When you think about your job as a manager, do you think that you have to have all the answers and fix all the problems? If you do, you may be more trouble to yourself than you need to be. If you want to be a really good manager, you have to learn to lead others to learn how to think and act for themselves.
How do you teach adults to do that? Aren't they already set in their ways? Nope. You have to teach them to believe that they can be right, and you also have to show them that they can survive being wrong. That's the tough one. People hate being caught in the wrong. So, don't catch them, let them catch themselves. To do that you have to trust them as people who want to do things right and believe in their character. That means you have to know that you are hiring the right people. Someone commented on my last post and said that to avoid the curse of the employee who is dead in the water after 6 months, you have to be very careful in your hiring.
I agree, but I also think that it's very hard for an employee to dazzle at the interview and fizzle on the job. Recently, we hired another person in our office who would be a roving assistant, working at both the front desk, as well as helping out in the back. The idea was that the current front desk and the new staff member would function in these roles together so that one would always be at the front and the other would be available if we needed her in the back. The front desk assistant already knew all the tasks for both areas and she was to teach the new employee. In my mind, I felt she'd be happy to have the help since she seemed to be getting run a little ragged. After a few days I asked the new staff memeber how it was going and she said, "She doesn't want to train me, she's worried for her job." Since I had made it clear that I wanted them both to work in tandem and that we would work this way from now on, I was somewhat disappointed, but not shocked. The new employee said that the other employee showed her things too fast and didn't wait for her to catch on. I told her I'd talk to her the next morning. In the morning I sat them both down and told them that each of their personal success would be measured by the success of the other. If one sabotaged the other, they would both fall. I also told the new person that if she felt the other wasn't trying to teach her she needed to stop and ask her if that was true. If you haven't told her, why would you tell me? At least give her the chance to know how you feel." And it would be the same if the other employee had an issue. Talk to each other, it doesn't have to be a fight, it can just be a way to understand each other. If they needed me to intervene, it would be a conversation that included all three of us. I let them know that together, they could cause wonderful things to happen for the patients, the practice, the staff, and last, but not least, themselves. "Imagine the satisfaction of knowing you made the practice run smoothly and the patients feel wonderful because you tried and managed to put your own insecurities and self interest aside and just trust each other. Just try it today and let me know how it feels. If you don't like it, we'll talk about a different approach." At the end of the day they were stamping cards and I said, "So ladies, how did it go today." The new employee said, "I was just going to come and tell you...it was great! I learned so much from her today and I just love it!" I smiled and said, "Ok, tell her, not me."
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