Monday, January 11, 2010
Extra Effort
People are in it for themselves. You must clearly understand this and never assume that, given a choice, your subordinates will choose to make you look good when they don't have to. HOWEVER, if they know that you truly care about their well-being, respect you, AND like you personally, they will break your way through EXTRA EFFORT as opportunities arise. I can hear the collective groan already! "It's not about being liked, it's about getting the job done!" I completely agree, but if you could have both why wouldn't you try for it? (We'll get more indepth with that aspect of management in future posts.)
What kind of extra effort am I talking about? If your people have the choice of taking a little extra effort to do what is in your best interest or not, they will more often choose the course that could make you look better. This is especially the case when no one will know that they could've made the extra effort and didn't. Subordinates will put forth this extra effort if they have a genuine respect for you and personally like you. This absolutely does not mean that you kiss their ass; this never garners the respect that you deserve and or are entitled to. Respect comes easiest if it’s mutual (another topic we'll dive into later). It takes little or no effort to be nice. If you’re nice to everyone it pays dividends that you could never predict or appreciate if you’re an ass.
If you look good it honors your people. They will share in the glory of your acheivement. Don’t ever take the credit though or you’re done in their eyes; goes back to the mutual respect thing and leads to a future post that covers personal acheivement.
I look forward to your comments!
Z
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteReposting the previous comment so readers know who I am and where I'm coming from. The views expressed in this blog are my own, MAJ Paul T. Agena (US. Army), and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, DOD, or the U.S. Government.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with the majority of what you have shared, I do beleive that "personally like you" is not a factor in the subordinates decsion to put forth extra effort. Today's Soldier can separate emotions from fact and when they know a superior truly cares, they will put forth the extra effort to make him look good despite their personal feeling for him. I am sure there are many who do not personally like their immediate supervisors but know that the decsions he makes is for the best of the Soldier and the Organization. The challenge we have as leaders is convey this to them. Unfortunately we may make every decision for the best of our Soldiers however what they percieve is reality to them. MAJ Paul T. Agena
I too am in the army and my view does not reflect the official policy or position of the DoD, Dept of Army, or the US Government.
ReplyDeleteIf there are enough lions, they can take down an elephant.
What do I mean by this. Though you, the leader, may be the nicest, most respectful, and put forth the mostest-bestest effort, you may be brought down by your subordinates if you do not meet the norms/culture/expectations of your subordinates. No matter what you do, you may never be sufficient in the eyes of your subordinates.
Examples:
- A person is brought into a company to head up a finance department. His background is Phd in financial engineering from an ivy league school with no work experience. He can be a genious and have all the leadership qualities, but there is going to be a lot of resentment to his leadership in that department
- A woman teaches something non-womanly to a gruop of men who have an orbitally high level of machismo. Though she may be the subject matter expert, the men in the crowd will tune her out because she isn't a man.