“When you’re having a bad day, no one should know about it. Suck it up and bear it. Don’t wear it on your sleeve or share it.”
A manager at a seminar approached me during a break and told me that he disagreed with my statement that it is unwise for a leader to discuss personal problems with followers. He remarked that he did it frequently because it helped him build rapport and it showed his team that he was a real person just like they were.
I suggested that what he was doing was irresponsible because it would distract his people by taking their eyes of their jobs and putting them on his problem. Furthermore, I remarked that this practice would diminish his credibility and cheapen his presence as a manager. I told him that as harsh at it may sound I was fairly certain that 90% of his people didn’t care about his problems and the other 10% were glad he had them, so there were little to gain by publicly discussing them!
by DAVID ANDERSON: Ten Knockout Strategies for Becoming the Manager Your People Deserve. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
I am reading this book again and again. This is actually my 3rd time reading it!
It is like a remedy as I go through the pages, word by word. I wanted to share specifically this portion which you could find it in the book on page 39.
(I bought the book at MPH bookstore early this year).
Actually, it is true that we have to keep our personal problems to ourselves to be better leader.
However, being human we always need someone to talk to and discuss things.
Personally, I am trying my best to keep reminding myself, not to burden my follower with my personal problems and to let them focus on the responsibility in the company by not knowing any of their personal problems too!
Regardless of what I’ve tried, I still need to share some and get to know some about their personal life.
NOT ALL, but just enough to get “the right button” to be pushed for each of my follower.
May ALLAH show me the best way, to be the best manager. For all of my friends too!
AMIN.
