What kind of leadership...

[Jared]

That's what I've kind of said, not exact words ever since I started college..

If/when I become management anywhere I'm going to spend a few hours if not a whole day working alongside each of the employees who would then be under me in the management cycle.

This would give me the opportunity to get to know the person, what they do, how they do it, etc...

[Hagar]

That's what I've kind of said, not exact words ever since I started college..

If/when I become management anywhere I'm going to spend a few hours if not a whole day working alongside each of the employees who would then be under me in the management cycle.

This would give me the opportunity to get to know the person, what they do, how they do it, etc...

Qualified managers coming straight into a company they know nothing about is a fairly recent idea. This can cause problems of its own but we won't go there.

The advantage of coming into management from the shop floor was that I could do the jobs of people under me better than they could. In some cases I taught them how to do their jobs in the first place. After I became a manager we introduced a new system where people in the sales office directly involved with other areas of the company spent a week working in those places finding out for themselves the everyday problems they were faced with. This was also done in reverse & worked very well.

[quote]10. THE MOST IMPORTANT.... ALWAYS SAY PLEASE AND THANKYOU. There's nothing worse than a boss or supervisor that you have busted a gut to get a job done for

[Paz]

Qualified managers coming straight into a company they know nothing about

 I used to see this a lot, and it almost always caused more problems than it ever solved, these guys usually don't last very long.
It is my experience that employees have very little respect for a new boss who has no idea what the jobs involve.

[beaky]

The advantage of coming into management from the shop floor was that I could do the jobs of people under me better than they could. In some cases I taught them how to do their jobs in the first place. After I became a manager we introduced a new system where people in the sales office directly involved with other areas of the company spent a week working in those places finding out for themselves the everyday problems they were faced with. This was also done in reverse & worked very well.

That's a great idea. I know a certain company that could stand to try something like that... I often wonder if some of our "sales engineers" and design engineers have ever worked in the field ... a big part of my job is correcting their boo-boos. Then there's the (outside) consultants and programmers- groan...

I agree. This is probably THE most important thing. Courtesy costs nothing & can make all the difference to working relationships. I always made a point of asking people to do things for me, not ordering them about. I also made it clear that if anyone was unsure of anything not to be afraid of asking me instead of trying to be clever & inevitably mess the whole thing up.

 I'll add  my "harrumph" to that- very important points. I really hate the obsequious, treacly request (usually just an act), but  it's amazing how different a directive can be when presented with that little bit of respect. And "thank you" is a big one in my book, whether I'm giving or receiving... of course, nothing says "thank you" like money . Maybe I'm just greedy, but after 5 years of service I was hoping for more than a paperweight, a "certificate of appreciation", and $200... more than many get, but my peers with other companies get a bigger bonus every year. I know... "go someplace else, then"... I'm working on it!
 And especially when I'm confronted with a crew of union electricians who've never done any soldering or crimping (uh-oh), I'll follow my crash course with a heartfelt plea to speak up if something doesn't make sense to them. I find I have to bite my tongue when somebody doesn't get it after repeated explanations, too- they'll just get pouty and get less done, and bottom line is that if they aren't learning whatever, I've failed to teach it properly. There's a limit of course, but usually there's someone with their local to whom I can turn and request that they be reassigned or whatever, if it comes to that.
Respect and humility have to be there to temper authority...