Leadership at workplace

[chungii chang]

Hello everyone. Couple of days ago I have assumed managerial position over (for now) two people in warehouse at large prodution. Since I feel I need to start a new group from scratch, would be very grateful for some advice from more experienced executives. Books and courses would help, too.

[vizual]

I have been in management positions significantly bigger than that. My advice is to always lead by example. Make sure you act with integrity, never take your subordinates for granted. And make sure you are competent in what you are doing, be someone the people can look upto. Don't be a dick, set boundaries and tell them what you expect from them. If they don't bring what is expected of them, talk to them seriously and ask them why, don't scoff at them.

Listen to what the people have to say. Even if their problems and complaints seem petty, take them seriously. I have experienced that the way a manager experiences the workflow can be way different from a "subordinate" due to the differences in responsibility.

[Average Investor]

Toast masters is quite good for this. Especially if you will start leading larger groups. I found a pathway on there for leadership to be fairly helpful. Going in on this for 6 months would blow you away. Run you about $50 or so. It's likely all online where you are too, so not much of a time commitment. I can say even with leading one person I have seen benefits from this. 

Studying leadership styles would be really useful. You would might be surprised to find things in your style worth changing and improving. this would be excellent for training and leading employees. 

Try to be as compassionate and accommodating as you can. Don't let people walk all over you, but work to make sure everyone is happy with the environment and how things are going. 

Work on motivating people with values from the business. Not with money or anger. 

[chungii chang]

@vizual @Average Investor Very appreciate your advices! 

 

Anyways it's much different from working as a subordinate. Need to cut out some bullshit habits such as no commitment, taking all breaks, doing your work half-ass, not thinking how to improve your workplace. You haven't this luxury on leader's position. Just huge opportunity to grow.

[vizual]

Another tip is to not be a micro-manager. Everyone hates a micro-manager. I know there is a big temptation to do everything yourself when you have all the responsibility. But you are going to burn yourself out on the long run and the people will start to hate you. You need to give the people the trust and the freedom to do their job. Let the people fail, let them make mistakes. As long as they are not deliberately sabotaging the work flow of course.

A big part of being a good manager is to be a facilitator, create a good environment for the people to do a good job. It means having a solid structure but also have a pleasant environment where people feel valued and make them feel that their work is meaningful. When you have this environment in place it is also way easier to be stern sometimes to make sure things get done on time and properly.