Build Trust As A New Supervisor.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

New partner

When people work with each other, you sometimes get a clash of agendas and different motivations which affect the team’s synergy and output. If not handled with tact and diplomacy, positions and points of view become entrenched and people construct walls and defenses.

An inexperienced supervisor in this situation often overreacts and tries to force change and this can backfire.

Trying to influence someone who doesn’t see your point and refuses to accept your reasoning is like trying to make a stream flow uphill. The stronger their defensive posture is, and resistance to change becomes, the more you exhaust yourself through frustration and resentment when repeated attempts to push change fail.

This has the effect of draining your energy, narrowing your range of tolerance, and prompting emotional reactions to every wrong move that the person makes.

Some points to consider when you are faced with this scenario:

Remove your emotions from the equation and look at the problem strategically by looking beyond surface appearances.

  • Why is this person uncooperative?
  • What is making them resentful or defensive?
  • What are they possibly afraid of?

With a new supervisor, established employees may feel the need to test their boundaries, to see how strong or weak their new leader is. More experienced staff members who have seen supervisors come and go may test, probe or challenge to see if the new supervisor deserves their respect.

Finding common ground

  • Solicit their input as to how things could be done better or more productively within the bounds of established corporate guidelines.
  • Ask for their ideas about how you can help make their job easier and what tools they need.
  • Establish the human connection through asking them about their own plans for career growth and what they see as the next step forward.
  • Bring a specific operational problem to their attention and ask them how they would solve it.

Engaging these employees and showing that you value their experience, input and ideas is one way to gain willing cooperation. People have opinions and frequently have great ideas to contribute. Their former supervisor may have had a more autocratic leadership style, and as a consequence, they learned to avoid the risk of saying what they thought.

A significant part of the learning curve of new supervisors and managers is practicing the skills of active listening, soliciting feedback and seeking first to understand, then to be understood. This builds trust, and with trust more open communication becomes possible.

“I don’t like that man, I must get to know him better.” – Abraham Lincoln

 

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Do More Than Is Expected Of You.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Leaders recognize and reward achievement. The spotlight falls upon employees who take the initiative to ask for more challenging tasks, how they can best contribute to the team’s success, and what ways they can apply their talents to best effect.

“The big jobs usually go to those who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Here’s How To Move Up Through The Ranks Into Management:

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

The best managers combine education, experience and the ability to enthuse and motivate other people to achieve goals. Degrees in business and continuing industry education are helpful. Management courses taken at your own expense are another step forward—in dedicating the time required to take them, you show uncommon initiative, and self-motivation. Night courses in community college offer numerous options for this
type of training. Ultimately, to be promoted, you need to have a track record of accomplishment, the drive to work harder than the people that you’re managing and, possibly most important, people must respect and like you enough in higher management to see you moving upwards.

Raise Your Profile With Your Employer.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc
  • Take on challenging projects with a degree of risk associated with them—it raises your profile in the company.
  • Volunteer to train new people, orienting them to the company.
  • Show personal initiative, and make your own supervisor or manager’s job easier.
  • Excel in your work, and develop relationships within the company in other departments.
  • Develop a reputation as a go-to person for problem solving.
  • Offer to do extra work during the month-end or end of the quarter at reports preparation time—people remember that willingness to go the extra mile for the department.
  • Work at the company’s trade shows, and attend industry events where your presence can be noticed by people in positions of authority—become a familiar face to them.

How Do I Grow In The First Job I Get After Graduation?

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Getting an entry-level job is an accomplishment; growing in the job you get requires different skills.

Within the corporate world it is vital to interact positively with people, be a team player, have a teachable attitude and concentrate on building working relationships both inside and outside of your employer. Technical competence is important but gaining the cooperation of other people leads to mutually rewarding achievements.

People with strong team attitudes who are always doing more than is required of them get noticed by management. They build alliances through their willingness to pitch in and help their colleagues and superiors accomplish goals. Always eager to learn, they stretch themselves, take extra courses, volunteer for important projects and earn the respect of their peers and managers.

Emotional Intelligence And Your Career Progress

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Your ability to nurture strong relationships with other people up and down the reporting structure, as well as with outside parties is a key factor in your career progress. It is just as important to develop relationships, as it is to cultivate knowledge and produce results.

With mentors, someone has taken a liking to an aspiring individual, identified with them, and is motivated to see that the person succeeds in their chosen field. The best mentors challenge you to be more than what you are; to reach for new experiences, to improve your knowledge, skills, and abilities; stretching yourself to ensure that your potential is fully defined and developed.

Emotional intelligence involves the ability to empathize, discipline your emotions, and create bonds of trust with people who help you progress along your chosen career path.

It isn’t always the best educated, most experienced or most intelligent person who is chosen for promotion. The people who are promoted most often have learned the art of developing strong relationships with other people. The attitudes they display are positive, collaborative, and they attract support from people in positions of authority. Senior managers are human and are inclined to favour those with whom they’ve created a positive working relationship.