Supervisor Role in Career Management

The supervisor’s role starts at production. To maximize our production we must delve deeper into the dynamics of team leadership and begin the process of motivating the workers beyond their weekly pay. We also have administrative tasks associated with the position of supervisor. Most, if not all, of our supervisory job, the leadership and administrative, includes using our personal and professional judgement in making decisions. These judgement calls can be subjective and arbitrary or objective and principled.

It's the principle of it.

Developing principles to live by and practicing them until they become ingrained habit will allow you to focus on your team more than yourself. Decision making becomes easier because choices that don’t line up with your principles aren’t even a consideration. Your team should begin to anticipate your decisions, because they see the principles behind them, and be able to make appropriate decisions for themselves.

As you prepare to move up to the next rung on the supervisory ladder, you need to be keeping track of what principles (as practices) work and which don’t work and why. I compiled my list of leadership principles very early on and was surprised at how many things on my list didn’t actually work when I put them in practice. I found that much of my list needed to be written in pencil rather than carved in stone as I had first assumed (arrogance of youth?). Even those leadership truths I believe should be carved in stone still need to be tweaked based on the environment and the personnel involved.

For example, as I noted above, I like people to learn the principles I use for decision making and apply them. However, some are too insecure to make decisions for themselves. They need someone to weigh in and take the responsibility for the decision. They’re the expert but they lack the confidence. I will assume the responsibility, at least early on, so they can move forward but eventually they must learn to shoulder those decisions, it’s a process.

Another example is the principle of “pulling your weight” or doing your fair share. My goal is to assign work fairly so I don’t overburden the hard worker in favor of the lazy one. This is rarely 100% possible to put into practice. Applying the principle however, just requires a little tweaking. First step I take is to begin the motivating process with the lazy ones. Performance counseling and standards guidance help to develop the paper trail if nothing else. Next I work on the reward piece for my star performers. Rewards help compensate the worker while the paper trail either motivates the lazy to step up their game or step out the door.

Eventually you’ll begin to recognize the principle in the practice. In other words, the practices you observe commonly have a principle behind them. It’s up to you to decide which are good and which you want to shy away from adopting. As you establish the principles from which you lead, you will need to marry them with the practices you use in your leadership role.

One principle that I feel is extremely important is providing advancement opportunity for those on your team. While not all of the members on your team will be ambitious enough to desire advancement, it is necessary to have a plan for those who are. The military, by its very nature, requires its members to work towards advancing in rank and responsibility. It also lays a good deal of responsibility on supervisors to mentor their troops toward that end.

Give them a reason for self improvement.

By setting an example of a supervisor mentoring the troops for growth and advancement, you establish an environment where people know they can get ahead by developing the qualities necessary for the next step up the chain. They will start to pay attention to the kinds of behavior that will be needed should they get promoted. You may even find they will want more responsibility while actively seeking your guidance on areas of improvement. The best outcome, to my way of thinking, is the removal of their need for self promotion and turning it into a greater team focus.

Unfortunately, in today’s world there’s a large emphasis in “managing” your own career. To me that speaks to the blatant disregard by those in charge for those they employ. For most of my military career I believed it was my supervisor’s job to look out for my career and my job to watch out for those under me. It was heartbreaking to find out that nearly every one of the E-9s (highest enlisted rank) I met, got to that rank by “managing” their career. It was reflected in their self important leadership style. However, it’s not unique to the military just more personal to me.

Another bad example.

This idea of career management was rudely thrust in my face during a Leadership graduation luncheon. I was there as the supervisor of one of the graduates. The keynote speaker was an E9, Chief Master Sergeant, and I couldn’t believe my ears. Instead of speaking about the responsibilities of a leader or supervisor, which these airman would soon become, he spoke about his career management. He described how he manipulated the system to get the right jobs at the right bases to facilitate filling the right resume boxes. Nothing about stepping up and filling the roles most needed by the Air Force. Nothing about duty, honor, integrity, or responsibility but just a bragimony on how he scammed the system to get ahead. How could anyone respect such a self-serving prick? I feel that way every time someone starts bragging about how they made it to the top by working the system rather than by working.

Bad career advice?

I realize that in today’s environment you can’t rely on your supervisor for career advancement. In some cases, they stifle it to prevent losing their best while recommending promotions for those they want to see go away. There are also those who try to help by giving advice on how to work the system. I’ve even had boss’s suggest I neglect my job and my family so I could pursue activities that would enhance my career opportunities. Obviously, they didn’t say I should neglect either but what they suggested would have caused just that.

What I am saying is that I believe supervisors should begin figuring out how to help their people advance within the system. They shouldn’t demand their people make it easy for them by doing their own square filling. I’ve had deserving airmen that couldn’t seem to score high enough on their tests to make the cut off. Through simple observation, I had learned, about halfway through my career, that there was one sure fire way to get a strong performer promoted. If I had hardworking star performer that should get promoted, I would assign the individual to the weather radar coordinator position. That, in turn, would force me to send that person to weather radar school. The first testing cycle after they graduated would see them make a high enough score to get promoted. It worked every time.

Not my first career choice but hey...

Help them grow.

If you’re paying attention (Look Around!, Listen Up!, and Tune In) you could end up knowing your team members better than they know themselves. This gives you the unique ability to watch for advancement opportunities for them. You’re generally more aware of openings in the company because you’re exposed to more departments and their hiring managers. You have a better sense of what advancement opportunities would be a good fit for which team member. Your familiarity with their strengths, weaknesses, skills, and temperament allows you to make solid suggestions. However, I don’t ever think it’s appropriate to direct someone to another job because they have performance issues and you want them off your team. That’s just wrong. If they find another position in the company and the manager is aware of the issues, okay, but just passing along a problem is not right. It sets a bad example.

Multitasking

There’s been a lot of nonsense going around about “multitasking” and the “pros and cons” of it. Really? Am I missing something? To me the “multitasking” vs. “unitasking” debate is like debating “which is better, black or white?” It’s not just a matter of taste or personal preference but depends largely on circumstances, application, and environment. That there is some sort of controversy on this subject did get me to stop and compile my thoughts on multitasking

The first thing I perceived was a wide variation in the meaning of the term multitasking from one person to another. So, I googled the definitions of “multi,” “task,” and “multitasking.” The definition of multitasking, derived from the three, wasn’t any big surprise to me. However, I do wonder about a multitude of people out there that seem to think otherwise. The definition as compiled from online dictionaries:

multitasking - the handling of more than one piece of work at a time

Using this definition, I would submit that we could take several categories of complaints about multitasking off the table. If someone is texting their buddies in the middle of a business conversation, that is not multitasking. He isn’t handling a piece of work by texting. If your employee is on facebook while she’s processing forms at her desk, that is not multitasking because facebook is entertainment not work. Doing anything that is not work while at work isn’t multitasking and isn’t ethical if it distracts from getting your job done. That is a judgement call, If the individual lacks the proper judgement (or self discipline) to keep their distractions in check, the boss needs to make it for them. It is not an issue of multitasking.

Prime example of a multitasker.

I would like to begin with a fairly universal example of multitasking, the mother/homemaker/housewife. The sheer volume of tasks combined with the constant demands of child rearing leaves little room for the “unitask” model of work. Even when she appears to be “just” sitting with the kids to color in the coloring books, she may be planning naps and lunch in her head. She’ll pile all the kids in the car (babysitting) while she heads to the grocery store (shopping), stopping at the bank drive-thru (errands) to make a transaction along the way (driving). I won’t include, talking on the phone, passing snacks to the back of the car, and adjusting the car stereo to play the kids favorite Raffi tune because that’s “distracted driving” and we don’t want that now do we? Screaming kids in the car is far less distracting! If you don’t buy that as multitasking, consider dinner prep. A load of laundry started, children set-up with a distracting activity, and cleaning the kitchen while preparing dinner (all the while on the phone with a friend planning tomorrow’s playdate) has got to qualify. My point? Multitasking is a fact of life and not necessarily a leadership “option.”

It’s Personal.

Individual personality traits seem to me to play an important role in the strength of multitasking. Some are able to concentrate on more than one idea at a sitting and others can’t. Some get lost in thought about one idea where another may leap from one subject to another without losing their train of thought on any given subject. My father-in-law would be reading the newspaper while my mother-in-law would be balancing the checkbook. She would call out numbers and he would do the addition or subtraction in his head, call back the appropriate answer, and continue to read the paper. If my wife, on the other hand, is balancing the checkbook, she’ll need a calculator and don’t interrupt her.

One’s sensibilities can come into play as well. I will avoid multitasking when having a conversation because it’s rude. If I’m in a meeting and the subject doesn’t require my full attention, I will conduct other business so long as it isn’t distracting or disruptive to the rest of the group. Just because you can multitask doesn’t mean you should. However, having colleagues waste my time in an inane and unstructured meeting means I may need to multitask during my attendance.

Work ethic or wiring?

In my younger, and considerably less wiser, days, I passed off the hue and cry over “too much work” as a lack of proper work ethic. I figured they just needed to get organized or maybe they were just too lazy to do the work. To my way of thinking it was a waste of time to stand at the copier until all 200 copies printed (I wasn’t sharing a copier with a large office). I would start the copier printing and leave to knock out a couple more tasks.

I figured out as the years passed that some people are physically lazy, some mentally lazy, and some are just wired differently than I am. If the work ethic isn’t the issue then it’s likely a difference in wiring and is part of the difference between the cow pony and plow horse, in My Horse Barn Analogy.

On a personal note, my wiring can prohibit me from sticking to one task. Often times I have to have time to process information. I may switch to rote tasks that require very little concentration while I mull things over in my head. If I had to sit and write these blog posts start to finish without intervening tasks, it would take significantly longer computer time and not have the same content quality (assuming of course that there is any quality).

Supervisor assistance.

As a supervisor, you need to know the when, where, and how much each of your team members have in the way of tasks. You may have to adjust duties or workloads based on the abilities of the individual but that should be a temporary fix. Each team member needs to be fully competent member handling their fair share. If the job requires multitasking, they need to master it whether they’re wired that way or not. Additional training and improved job knowledge are ways to aid job experience in building competency and making the team member comfortable in handling the tasks simultaneously.

Job related.

To say, as some sort of “research” has indicated, that multitasking reduces your brain power to that of an 8 year old or the equivalent of a “stoner” is nonsense. There are a large number of college students working their way through college as restaurant servers. Most of the servers I’ve worked with over the years were very bright and the server has to multitask the entire shift. They do it all while stopping briefly to text a friend(s), tweet, instagram, check facebook, or surf the web on their phone.  

A brain surgeon, on the other hand, should stay focused on the task at hand since I’m sure there’s variety enough involved in that “unitask.” Even though he may not be emailing in the middle of surgery, the job itself requires the monitoring on many variables at the same time.  

I have had a job where it only required focus on one task and there was little to no opportunity for performing any other functions. Two summers, I spent out with the migrant farm workers picking tomatoes. Lift the vine over to expose the tomatoes, pick the tomatoes into a bucket, take the full bucket to the cart, empty the bucket, return to the row of vines and repeat the process. At 21 cents a bucket, I made less than $8 a day and hated every minute. I don’t think my brain was operating any more efficiently by staying focused on one task.

Boss’s job

The amount of work assigned should match the worker’s capability. Unfortunately, the boss doesn’t typically have the luxury of keeping the workload that low (did I just say that outloud?). Everyone needs to pull their weight and it’s the boss’s job to ensure they do but there are ways to optimize each member’s strengths to maximize the team’s performance.

If there is an outcry, however subtle, why would you ignore it? There’s a reason your people might be upset. It could be over tasking or simply too many interruptions. You shouldn’t blow off complaints because they typically stem from something. Dig a little deeper, it may be that someone was making headway on a project and was handed a basketful of tasks with a tight deadline. It always yanked my chain hard when a boss did that to me.

Why waste your time and energy?

The debate over “multitasking" is as silly, to my way of thinking, as the debate over whether leaders are made or born that way. We learn, apply, and perform. If we maximize all three we typically excel beyond anyone’s expectations. Don’t argue the point but listen politely and then press ahead to the next task(s).

Excuses vs. Reasons

I’d like to share my thoughts about a common leadership function, discerning between excuses and reasons. Every so often we fail to meet a standard. When this happens we have the opportunity to evaluate why it happened. The same is true for our subordinates. If the failure is work related, we as the boss have to evaluate not only our failure but those of our team as well. Our response to our subordinates depends on the frequency, severity, and impact of their failure. For instance, if the employee, who normally arrives early to work everyday, arrives late, we will tend to ask if everything is okay and then go about our business. If it’s habitual but only by a few minutes, we determine if it’s causing an impact to the operations. If not, we counsel them on the need for punctuality and log it for performance review time and press ahead, business as usual (some people are just unable to make it on time). If their failure to arrive on time is by a significant amount of time and/or significantly impacts business (like good order and discipline), we have to take appropriate action.

Here is where we must differentiate between reasons and excuses. When a failure (however minor) is addressed to the individual, they have the opportunity to cite the reason (taking responsibility) or make up an excuse (passing the blame). It’s not always easy to determine the difference between the two and we want to avoid false accusations. We also have to concede that there are times when failure may not be their “fault.” Let’s continue with the example of late to work. Let’s say the alarm clock failed to ring and you overslept. Bosses hear it all the time (slight exaggeration, sorry) and it goes something like this, “My alarm clock didn’t go off.” That’s your "excuse" but the actual "reason" you’re late is because you overslept. I know it sounds petty but the example works. If I assume responsibility then I recognize I overslept or I could blame the alarm clock since I can’t hurt it’s feelings, right? The former accepts responsibility while the other passes the blame.

Speaking of alarms, I have these bells that start ringing in my head when I hear excuses. I’ve known people that, when called out about something, will hurl (throw, not puke) one excuse after another at me causing an outrageous din in my head. It drives me nuts. I am always amazed at people’s desire to avoid blame, even on things of little significance. The unfortunate fact is that many people don’t recognize the difference whether in themselves or others. As a leader it’s best to recognize the difference.

It may take a little bit of mental gymnastics at first but eventually it gets easier and easier to spot. Let’s dissect the alarm example above by working backward the two or three steps. You were late because you overslept. You overslept because the device you rely on to wake you didn’t wake you. Assuming you set the alarm clock the same way you always do but it failed, then you will be throwing that clock (or $600 cell phone) away before bedtime and using a replacement. So, if the alarm clock actually “failed” then I suppose you could deduce that the clock was indirectly responsible for your tardiness but that still shifts the blame rather than accepts it. Besides, in most cases, I would bet the farm that the alarm clock is functioning just fine and it’s failure is nothing more than operator error (provided it actually failed…).

I remember as a young airman waiting for my shift relief to arrive. If anyone was late, he would generally have an apology and usually a stated reason. None of them were worried about me because we were peers and usually didn’t “rat” on each other over such minor offenses. Many times they would come in early the next day to make up for it. I do remember one particular individual that was an exception. He would arrive from 30 minutes to two hours late and never pay you back. He also arrived with an excuse. His alarm clock hardly ever went off when it was suppose to, the car battery died (regularly) or one of his tires would go flat. It was always something and he was almost always late though it was never his fault. BTW, it was pre-cell phone days and he didn’t have a house phone… As an NCO he set a very bad example.

When I wrote the post Lead By Example Part IV, Responsibility, I was speaking more about being responsible but you also have to set the example of taking responsibility. Learning the difference between the reason for a failure and the excuse for it is important so that you can avoid using excuses. It sets a bad example. Self-examination before citing that handy excuse will help you see it in yourself and can help you avoid setting a bad example.

Usually, there is a bigger story behind a failure, even a minor infraction at times. As boss you’ll always want the full story but you want to start by hearing the reason not the excuse. You want to know your team takes responsibility and owns up to failure. Everyone can learn by mistakes only if they’re willing to recognize their part. Of course, I recognize there are environments that punish any and all who admit to error but someone needs to lead the way in rising above it.

Stop with all the excuses and be honest with yourself.

4th of July

Here in the United States on July 4th, we celebrate our Independence. We celebrate the establishment of our country. My family likes to gather at the house to celebrate and fire up the barbecue grill. This year we had six grandkids present, all under the age of five, and it made me marvel at God’s wonderful grace. He put them in a nation that still today believes they have rights “endowed by their Creator.”

It is always good to review the Declaration of Independence to see again the principles espoused by the men who founded these United States. Check out the list of grievances that drove them to take such a drastic measure as to fight and die for our independence.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

It is my hope that all leaders’ honor is sacred to them that they may always attempt to do the right thing.