Careers Advice

I fully accept that the majority of jobs don’t involve your having to handle subordinates.  But, for the minority who do have to contend with this issue, it’s a vital part of their role.

Albert Einstein said, “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”  Successful man management is a lot like successful teaching – you need to inspire and motivate.  That’s what really counts.  That’s your job.  Good leaders follow specific plans and put their subordinates first.  But they don’t make the mistake of trying to be everyone’s best friend…

Here are my 10 top tips for effectively handling and managing your subordinates:

• Do develop good working relationships with your subordinates but be wary of becoming too emotionally close.  It can weaken and undermine your authority.
• Be fair.  Treat your subordinates all equally and objectively.  Avoid having favourites.  And treat them all as you would wish to be treated yourself.
• Be prepared to put on your cross face and to take appropriate measures with those who fail to perform to the required standards.  But use it sparingly!
• Praise in public; criticise in private.  Never humiliate a subordinate.  You want them on your side, not working against you.
• Don’t lose your temper and never yell and shout.  It just makes you look weak, foolish and out of control.
• Demonstrate empathy and the ability to understand their own individual points of view.  Make them feel understood and their opinions recognised.
• Do demand the best of people that they can achieve – but be aware of their limitations and don’t make excessive demands; it’s counter-productive.
• If a subordinate comes to you for help, give them the time and attention they deserve.  It’s your job to help them – and to teach them how to help themselves.
• Remember that you’re not God.  You don’t know it all.  A little humility and a little less arrogance will only increase your subordinates’ opinion of you.
• You’ll most likely be somebody else’s subordinate.  Don’t hesitate to seek their advice or intervention if you are worried about how to handle a situation.

Top team players don’t fit into any particular mould but what they have in common is that they really care about what the team is trying to achieve and want to make a positive contribution to its success – without needing to have their arm twisted!

You should always be striving to become a better team player tomorrow than you are today. Here are my top 10 key tips to help you become just that:

• Actively participate. Fully engage in the work of the team. Resist the temptation of sitting passively on the sidelines. Volunteer to contribute. Pitch in!

• Remember The Golden Rule: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself – even if you might sometimes feel they deserve otherwise!

• Treat other members of your team as individuals. Recognise and appreciate the uniqueness of their experience, knowledge, opinions and point of view.

• Don’t hold back on sharing your own experience, knowledge, opinions and point of view

• Seek to generate creativity and innovation. Promote divergent points of view. Benefit from your differences.

• Seize the initiative in finding solutions to any problems your team might encounter. People don’t want problems; they want solutions.

• A problem shared is a problem halved. Let your team members know that they can come to you with problems and you’ll help them to find solutions.

• Yes, it’s a great cliché of business theory, but remember that there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’! What is in the best interests of the team should generally coincide with you own best interests.

• Be prepared to ‘take one for the team’, i.e. willingly make a personal sacrifice for the benefit of the team. There are few surer ways to get the respect of your colleagues.

• Accept the mistakes of others with good grace – and don’t compound your own mistakes by trying to hide them. We all learn from our mistakes – and from the mistakes of others.