There is nothing backward about
you but there is something wrong with the attitude to management in this country.
When I was first appointed to the post of General Manager, my boss was happy because he had filled the position from within the company, thus not having to pay a higher salary to someone from outside, he never had to pay an agency fee and he never had to teach someone how the company worked. I had been very good at my previous job, in sales, and was very much a company man.
I worked every minute there was to prove that he had made the right decision. I took the phone home and left it beside the bed and urged my night shift manager to call me if he had any problems. I took the phone home at weekends and urged the weekend shift manager to ring me if he had any problems. I took the phone on holiday and urged anyone to phone me if they had any problems. I was convinced that the place just couldn't run without me.
There weren't any problems because nobody made a decision without referring to me. If I got it wrong it was my fault and I put it right. This situation was ultimately unsustainable, I was bound to get worn out and I did. Something had to change and it did.
I started, a little bit at a time, to trust my staff. I gave them the opportunity to decide for themselves. The more I trusted them the more they wanted to do things for themselves and the less I was needed. Gradually, I could afford not to take the phone to bed with me. I stopped getting calls on the weekend and I never take the phone on holiday with me anymore.
What I have discovered is that I can delegate authority to my managers. I cannot delegate responsibility but I can delegate authority whist retaining responsibility for my managers. By managing them well (I hope), they have the confidence to try things for themselves and to put right their mistakes with my support.
As I said at the start of this lengthy missive, there is something wrong with the attitude to management in this country which says that just because you get paid more than your staff you have to work harder and do more than them. I believe that I am paid more for my experience and my ability to get the best out of people, after all that is what management really is. With the correct training and an atmosphere of mutual trust I firmly believe that a manager should be able to be out of the workplace for short periods without direct input.
In conclusion, ask yourself this, does your Chief Exec/Chairman/MD take calls when he is on holiday? If not why should you? If he does then perhaps he should learn to trust his staff better!!
Sounds like a lecture, I really don't mean it to be, just my experience from seven years of general management.
(I still couldn't resist the smillie)
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Topic: Theres something a bit backwards about me.. (Read 2439 times)