I read a great article today on LinkedIn by Oleg Vishnepolsky. It reminded me of the reasons why I have left a company in the past. It also reminded me of the manager I would like to one day be towards my future employees.
The article stated that "The best people always suffer the worst from bad leadership." I believe this because I have first handily witnessed employees be content with bad leadership, because they don't care to be ambitious or excel in what they do. They are happy coming to work everyday, punching their time cards, and doing the bare minimum to ensure they get their bi-weekly paycheque. Most of this is because they don't feel passionate or care about what they do. The best kind of employees, want to grow the business, they have a goal, they are focused, they want to learn, they want to exceed, and they most importantly want to feel valued and appreciated by their employer.
"To manage smart people, you do NOT need to be smarter than they are. You need to give them a chance to grow, opportunities to shine, and appreciation." I think was my favourite quote from the article, as it directly relates to a recent experience I dealt with in my career. For an employee to want to strive to do their best work, and to put their heart and soul into promoting your company, and achieving your vision with your goals, you have to first of all trust them. Trust is everything in the workplace between a manager and an employee. If you do not have trust, you have nothing. Secondly, you have to motivate your employee to feel like they are important and feel like the work they are producing is contributing to a higher purpose which makes them feel like they are a part of something special, and a part of something that they help create and build with you.
The article also stated that "It does not make sense to hire smart people, and then get them to follow stupid rules." Stupid rules kill morale. Period. We live in a day and age when employees have the freedom to pick and choose companies very carefully. If a company does not make an employee feel appreciated, trusted or like an adult, they are going to move on quicker than you knew what hit you. If you are hiring an adult, treat and trust your employees like an adult. Why create stupid rules that are going to make your employee feel like they are in elementary school, and like they are in need of having a babysitter. Trust that your employees will get the job done, because that is the reason you hired them in the first place.
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