The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 38, No. 4
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are being serious and when they aren’t.
Let them see you as a whole person—
not just the one that’s looking over
their shoulder. Getting to know them
better will allow you to see their
strengths and weaknesses. Knowing
where these are will allow you to
nurture their talent and find their
“genius” threshold. It’s also important
to be cognizant of their boundaries.
While no one should be able to pick
and choose their work activities, you
do want to make sure you don’t push
them past the capabilities and duties
of their position, thereby setting them
up for failure. Just because you need
an accountant, doesn’t mean you
suddenly make your Party Chief do it
because he or she is good at math.
Nobody will be happy in that scenario.
4.
Be flexible
You’re used to being in control. It’s
scary when you’re not. How can you
trust everything will get done the
exact way you like it? Remember,
you’ve just spent time getting to know
your team, encouraging their strengths
and trusting their abilities. Now you
need to look at your workflow and see
where you are comfortable with
flexibility. Communicate with your
team about expectations, parameters
they have to get the project done and
areas of flexibility, when you expect
status updates and the ultimate
deadline. Now stop babysitting and
get your own job done. Nobody cares
for, nor needs a micromanager.
5.
Make sure everyone
sees the Big Picture
Think back to before you were an
executive manager. How many times
did you wonder what your boss did all
day? The truth is, it’s easy to get lost in
the details of procedure and process.
It also takes growth and experience
to be able to see the overall picture.
Make sure to hold regular weekly or
bi-monthly team meetings, commun
icating overall goals. This will require
a certain level of transparency on your
part. Every team member has their
weight to pull. Communicating a
certain amount of your contributions
is important. They will then see that
you are, in fact, pushing an entire cart
uphill and respect you more for it.
In the end, your role should be about
supporting the members of your team.
Show them the ropes and nurture
their talent. Without them, there is no
team. As a leader, you need your team,
so when you break out of the tradi
tional definition of supervisor, you
will find that you and your team are
far more capable than any of you
imagined.
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