The vast majority of bosses don’t intentionally want to make employees miserable – usually it happens completely by accident! Whether it is an act of ‘commission’ or an act of ‘omission’, the results can be destructive.
A front line supervisor, manager or team leader can make things better or worse, both with what they DO and what they DON’T do.
Commit- things you DO and shouldn’t
These errors of ‘commission’ can hurt employees and make the leader’s job more challenging:
- Destroying teamwork by setting up internal competition instead of getting everyone to focus on achieving their full potential.
- Answering every question and solving every problem instead of getting employees to learn and grow by thinking for themselves.
- Being overly sarcastic, cynical and negative instead of being more positive and optimistic and saying it like it is.
- Being unapproachable by looking either too aggressive or by avoiding eye contact instead of being more approachable and friendly.
- Overloading good employees and letting poor performers coast instead of proactively confronting the performance issue.
Omit – things you DON’T DO and should
These errors of ‘omission’ can hurt employees and make the leader’s job more challenging:
- Forgetting to explain ‘WHY’ when asking employees to do something.
- Waiting for employees to bring problems and questions to you instead of proactively touching base with them every day.
- Ignoring difficult employees and spending time only with your favorite employees instead of giving attention to all employees.
- Avoiding decisions and problems, hoping they will take care of themselves.
Being an effective front line leader involves both STOPPING negative behaviors and STARTING more positive ones.
