How to Be the Best Supervisor, Manager and Leader You Can Be

"That's the worst decision you have every made!" "What, did you just crawl out from under a rock with that decision?"

How many times have you looked to a leader to make a decision? Probably more than you can count. Maybe you question their ability to be decisive. Why does it seem that making a decision eludes some people?

OK, I am not here to broad brush the masses and say the same situation applies to everyone, but I want to share some thoughts on the subject.

First, take a look at two ends of the influence spectrum above.

So, there a few forces at work here and then you make a decision based on policy, procedure, prodding or some other method or influence. To you, it may not matter much about some decisions made and chances are that many of them you have made may not have had any repercussions or backlash whatsoever.

However, don't believe for a minute that people are not watching you, though. As a leader, you are in a fishbowl. Like it or not, workers are sizing you up as either being decisive or not (which in a peculiar way, not making a decision is a decision). Why do some hesitate to make decisions? In a word: accountability. Some may not want to be held accountable; to take the path of least resistance and avoid conflict.

So, what do you do?
1. Gather the facts (may be limited)
2. Limit emotion
3. Think about all the possible choices
4. Consider possible resistance and be prepared to answer
5. Consult your boss when necessary
6. Watch out for pressure points
7. Be timely
8. Communicate
9. Realize you will not satisfy everyone
10. Keep the influence spectrum at bay

People want leaders who are decisive.

The Test, the Crash and the Dummy

We have seen the public safety messages on TV with the talking crash test dummies. Their skits, often humorous, get us to think about wearing seat belts to save our lives in the event of a crash. Perhaps we have seen actual footage of a car under test conditions with an artificial family of crash test occupants, accelerating towards a concrete wall in until the final frames, shown in slow motion, impacting the wall dead on. Debris flying, crash test dummies being thrust forward; even the back seat dummies (replicas of children) are launched into chaos. The mannequins represent victims of a hostile scene used for the sake of evaluating the safety engineering of an automobile.

How does this fit in the work setting? First, let's examine the test

What is the test? It is the set of environmental (trust, values and morale) and system (policy and procedure) conditions which employees are subjected to, fueled by a dictatorial, degrading and often dehumanizing style of leadership, that fosters negative stressful tension. Left unattended or neglected, this stressful tension can quickly grow into a strong undercurrent, jeopardizing the organization's health, productivity and sustainability.

What is the crash? When negative stressful tension builds to the point where it defines the culture as toxic, then the crash occurs. This is the condition of failure.

Who are the occupants? For the sake of this definition, they are the employees who are being taken on this ride towards the merciless wall. However, unlike the mannequins, these individuals have a choice to either stay or go. However, staying does not mean acceptance of the conditions and going does not mean non-acceptance. Leaders need to keep this fact at the forefront of their minds.

If you have been in the workforce for one week or 20 years, you most certainly have experienced negativity on the job.

Where two or more are gathered there is the potential for negativity. It spreads like wildfire and is hard to extinguish at times. Perhaps there is nothing more difficult a challenge for a supervisor or manager than to confront workplace negativity.

Although, it is not possible to get into your employee's heads to unwire the negative synaptic nerves like a telephone serviceman snipping wires and re-routing connections at a neighborhood service panel, there are ways to address the attitudes and behaviors that can bring a halt to the decline in morale and productivity and reestablish some semblance of harmony.

Why do some leaders not address issues? Could it be they are unaware or in denial? Maybe the problem will just go away. There are a number of reasons and most of them are excuses.

Some issues may become three legged chickens. If you haven't heard the story, let me share it with you.

One day years ago, there was a man driving his car down the road. As he slowed to make a turn, he noticed a farmhouse in the distance. Thinking nothing of it, he continued on his journey. Glancing out the car window, he noticed a three legged chicken running beside him. As the man sped up so did the chicken. The faster he drove, the three legs of the chicken were propelling it ever faster, that is, until it whizzed past the car.

The man stopped the car, amazed by what had happened. This required a little investigation. So, he turned the car back toward the direction he came from and proceeded until he approached the dirt driveway leading up to the farmhouse. He turned up the driveway and, as he got closer to the farmhouse, he noticed there were three legged chickens everywhere. The man stepped out of the car and the farmer came out from the barn to greet him. The man told him what had happened and remarked about the speed of the three legged chicken.

As the conversed, a thought pondered in the man's head. So he finally asked. "Just curious about these three legged chickens. Do they taste like an ordinary 2 legged chicken?" The farmer responded, "Don't know. I haven't been able to catch one."
So, what does a three legged chicken represent? It represents the problems, which if not addressed, will get out of hand and next to impossible to get control of especially when it comes to issues contributing to workplace negativity. What can be done to prevent or catch a three legged chicken?

Detect negativity, determine the source and diffuse the situation. See below: