Never worry about making a bad decision. Consider the facts and make the best decision based on what you know at the time. Everyone makes a bad decision once in a while.
Bad choices are almost always a result of things that were un-knowable at the time the choice was made.
When you delegate a project, select the best person for the job, and then trust them. I learned this one the hard way, when I first asked someone to take on a task, I was constantly looking over their shoulder and making suggestions such as "I would do it this way." A dear friend called me aside and said, "delegate and trust, they won't screw it up any worse than you would." He was so right.
Resist the urge to micromanage. This is hard for control freaks to do. Be available to mentor, but leave people alone to sink or swim. Some of them are going to mess up - probably a sign that you picked the wrong person for the job - so really you messed up.
Welcome everyone. For some showing up, is pushing themselves.
Learn how to apologize.
- Clearly describe what went wrong.
- Excuses cancel out the value of the apology
- Take responsibility (even if it was not your responsibility)
- Express your regrets clearly
- If there is anything you can do to remedy the situation describe it
- Express a commitment to doing better in the future.
I am trying not to micromanage my tenants when they do things, but it is not working. They just don't know how to do some things I've honed down to a fine point over the decades.
ReplyDeleteI know that feeling.
DeleteAll good advice. I know in the showroom I have a team to do my moves for me when we switch out room settings. I try not to micromanage, but I still can't quite keep my fingers out of the pot. And I don't know why cuz they always do a very good job. Again I think part of it is my JC disorder.
ReplyDeleteAs in Joan Crawford disorder, LMAO!
"NO WIRE HANGERS!!!!!!"
DeleteI'm a control freak where I'm concerned, but not so much for others; my hope is that they are well-trained enough to be, shall we say, "off leash"?
ReplyDeleteAs for apologizing, my rule is, "Totally my fault, I fucked up. Won't happen again in this lifetime."
Sometimes the new guys have a better way, seldom, but it could happen.
DeleteI was never really "in charge" of anyone and never wanted to be. I'm glad to be retired and don't have to deal with situations like this anymore.
ReplyDeleteSkills that stay with us for life.
DeleteLots of good advice here today.
ReplyDeleteMuch of learned the hard way over 50 years of work.
DeleteValuable lessons and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteSomething went awry last week, I had a chance to practice the art of apology.
DeleteIt took me a long time to learn to give the assignment, describe the resources available, and check back periodically to ask how it was going, keep my mouth shut and listen to the response. My staff knew that I was also trying to monitor the incoming work to see if they would need more help. I was very fortunate. They would have dug to the center of the earth if I had asked them to. Fortunately I never had to ask them.
ReplyDeleteWill Jay
Over the years I only had a couple of times when I was left totally disappointed, an article by a student intern that was unpublishable and could have been fixed if she had let me see it before she left town, and someone who was writing a longer manuscript and when she finished we had less than 10% of what we had agreed on (and it needed heavy editing.)
DeleteIt seems to me you are a good manager. I struggled with that all my working career.
ReplyDeleteThey hardly a bad decision or a choice. Just a learning experince.
ReplyDelete