I am sure we have all had managers that we liked and disliked and for various reasons. We like our managers because they are nice to us, motivate us, believe in us, and treat us well. However, we can dislike our managers for all of the opposite to the things I mentioned above. Some are micromanagers, have poor attitudes, belittle employees, and are just difficult to work with. Also, some just seem phony.
How you feel about your manager will affect how you view your working environment and how productive you are. If we see our managers in a positive light, we want to work harder, make them proud, excel and grow, and ensure our managers believe that we have value and they hired a great employee. Of course the opposite is true as well. When we don't like our mangers, we may perform at marginal rates, do the bare minimum, talk about them behind their backs, not trust them, and would overall, have steadfast negative feelings about this manager. Such negativity, will show through your work if you let it.
Never let a manager you don't care for know that you don't like them. They will then view you negatively (more if they do already). After all, we are all human and it is natural to feel in such a manner when you are treated poor and disliked by others. Your main focus should be working hard to perform well, growing with your position and company, capitalizing on the resources your company has to offer to your productivity, and having a positive attitude as much as possible to ensure happiness at work. Nothing will be perfect but it is all how you view things as well. Yes, we will have "bad" days but we can control how we feel too and can change our attitudes around.
So have a different attitude about your manager if you dislike him/her. Don't let them know how you feel. Meet and exceed expectations of that manager. Have a positive attitude and smile. Work hard and grow. Make your situation work in your favor. Then you may see more happiness at work.
Your thoughts?
I plan on becoming a manager one day, not soon because I still want to learn alot more about people (which in itself is a life learning lesson). But on this process to succeed, I've learned from past managers there are some key actions a manager can take to create a positive relationship with their employees which include remembering: small things matter, keep talking, get to know the team, LISTEN, make time for them, have fun – laugh with the team!, actively support employees in their development, empower employees, provide the right tools, be flexible, keep promises, and most importantly use the company’s brand values. Those were some of the great character traits that made my past managers successful from my observations. I hope to follow those great traits myself oneday.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion if you are working underneath a manager it would help for you to get along with that person if you want to enjoy your work experience at that job. I have been in situations where I have worked at a job where me and my manager did not quite see eye to eye. That made my job that much harder to complete because it was hard for me to want to do what that person wanted or expected of me to do. It was hard for me to get motivated enough to do my job because I would be thinking unpleasant thoughts about the person I was working for, and that is a big distraction. On the other hand I have worked underneath some managers that I have had wonderful relationships with and prospered at that job. When you are working with people you enjoy being around it makes it easier to focus on the task and get the job done. You would want to work harder for a person you like or get along with very well. Understanding this concept has made it easier for me to supervise in the past and it will make it easy for me to manage in the future.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with you Dr. Meadors on not telling your manager know how you really feel about them. I believe that you must love what you do and like your manager too. I have been in situations where I've liked my managers because they respected the staff and showed that they cared, and wanted you to grow with the company. I've worked for some managers that I dislike because they would talk down to employees and have poor attitudes, micromanage. The managers that I liked working for I made sure that I did all the work that was asked of me and more. I would never wait for them to tell me what to do at work, I knew what was expected of me on a day to day base. On the other hand the managers I did not like to much, I still worked hard. Now the ones that loved to micromanage made it hard for me to do my work, I would be stressed out, and overwhelmed. I would still give my all but it seem like my all was not good enough. I must say that I learned a lot from all the managers that I had,they should me what to do and what not to do as a manager.
ReplyDeleteI personally like my mangers that I have on my job now. One of the managers are out for a minute, so another manager from another store is helping out. At first she was cool and nice and I didn't have a problem with her, but as she started to go over things in the office, i didn't appreciate her telling me things that I felt like a manager that I already knew should have told me. I had to get over it and realize that she was doing her job and I had to do better. Weather we like it or not, they are over us in the work place, it is different when you are not on the clock, but when you are, you have to abide by the rules and just focus on your task at hand.
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