The Right to Management Competence

Happy Friday!

Am I living up to my responsibilities as a supervisor?

Each morning, I think about this question as I ride the Metro into DuPont Circle. In a slow-paced department with few staff, it may be an easy question to respond to.  Pubs is not really structured as a slow-paced environment.We get the ball of clay in and churn out a published manuscript, all under deadline, with numerous hand-offs between departments and personalities. Lucky for me, my commute takes about 45 minutes (if everything runs smoothly), which allows for my mind to jump from one direct report to the next, thinking about latest developments and conversations. It's like clicking the remote control in my head, staying on some channels longer than others because those stars may require a little extra attention.

I also think about ongoing projects and things that I have failed to complete. I set my daily priorities and think about how best to serve my team for the day. Unfortunately, none of my preparation answers the question posed in the first line of this post. Am I living up to my responsibilities as a supervisor? Just as I expect certain things from my team, including professionalism, teamwork and commitment, I am sure that they expect certain things for me.

To a degree, being a supervisor can isolate us from the true reality experienced by our team members. In our last seminar with Natalie Loeb, Alex Uribe brought up an excellent point.

One day, he was hanging out with other members of his coworkers, having beers and enjoying life. After he was given a leadership role, his interactions had to adjust because he now had a different set of responsibilities and priorities. "He Changed."

Technically, we have all changed to some degree. Our interactions with our staff is different, as is their perceptions of us. We can no longer rely on honest feedback from our team members as a means of security that we are doing a good job. The possibility that what they say can have a negative affect on their workday may be too risky to tell Randy how awful he handled a situation. Therefore, we are met with smiles. We need to find other guidelines within ourselves in order to stay on track. This article, The Right to Management Competence, provides some jewels that can be a starting point for us to establish our own, individual frameworks.

Have a great weekend. To all of the mothers, Happy Mother's Day!