Sticking your neck out and still having a head.

As a successful manager: be nice, listen ... and then tell them your way or the highway.

 

When I was my own boss I worked for an idiot

 

I even fired myself a few times .

 

Problem solved...

 

Yeah , I knew guys like that .

 

What? You're not Lead 6 Sigma certified? Get out of here!

And take your placemat and crayons with you!

 

My last day will be December 30. The workplace could be better. It could be worse. The biggest problems derive from the feudalistic corporate culture. There’s no way to change the culture. I’ll send a broadcast email on my last day. They typically tell people who will never be seen or heard from again how much they will be missed followed by a sentence of faint praise for the corporation.

I’ve exchanged contact info with those folks I will actually maintain contact with. My departure email will read, “So long folks. It’s been a heluva ride”. I still have 13 days I can’t cash out so there are only 11 working days remaining. Mentally, I’m already gone.

 

Don't ask for permission
Don't wait for help
Don't waste time on people who are unresponsive
Treat your people well and tell them thank you
"No" is just the first step of a negotiation
Always listen and consider all sides
Tell the truth
Stop just before you get fired

 

Don't get me started on Agile. Managers twist it beyond its limits and use it as an excuse to never define anything.

 

it has its uses.

 

I worked hard, and made a decent living for many years. One day I came to the realization I had been doing it wrong the whole time. That and the fact that I would not be able to work at the same kinds of jobs I always had as I aged. My last fifteen years were the best of my working life. I not only had an excellent job, I managed to learn to make some money on my own.

I had the good fortune of becoming good friends with the owner of the company I worked for, and I paid attention when he was talking. I managed to make some money of my own, that in no way compromised the workings of our company. My boss was not only okay with that, he was glad to have taught me, and to find that I was actually listening. My only regret is that it took me so long to learn what I needed to do to succeed in life. I was also lucky. You can be good, and succeed, but NOTHING beats blind luck!

 

Yup, my mentor was one of the infamous of Silicon Valley. It works.

 

I’m retired military. Back when I was still on active duty, I just gave everybody hell, superiors, peers, and subordinates.

If I disagreed with a superior, I told them and explained why. One of them once said to me, “You know, I’m glad that I’ve got you around. If I make a bad decision, the rest of these guys will yessir me to death and let me hang myself. But you’ll tell me that I’ve got my head up my ass. I appreciate it.” To which I replied, “My pleasure, sir!” with a malevolent grin.

Peers? Something like, “Are you nuts? Why would you even think that?”

Subordinates? “Do it, without a word, immediately if not sooner.”

But that sort of stuff is probably ill-advised in today’s military. Things aren’t like they used to be. And even back then, you didn’t want to be like that unless they held you in particularly high esteem. They liked me and I had a good history behind me, so they grinned when I did it. But they might not have grinned if somebody else had done it.

I still bark orders now and then and say things like, “Do it, without a word, immediately if not sooner!” It never fails to elicit big laughs from Mrs. Steerforth. I’ve tried to explain to her that I outrank her by a country mile, ever since we got married. But she just doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of rank structure, chain of command, and that sort of thing. So I’ve just learned to quietly tolerate her insubordination over the years.

 

I quit my job a couple of months ago, but recently was talked into coming back. I tried to take less money, but they’re still paying me the same as when I quit. When asked why less money, I said “I’ve always turned down lead and management rolls. I want to say no when y’all ask me to help make spreadsheets to show how to use apps everyone has to use because they say I’m one of the only ones in the country doing it correctly. I don’t want to start up systems that our installation department just put in after running service calls all day. I don’t want to be copied on emails with national account managers about problems with the accounts. I just want to run a couple of service calls a day and be left alone.” So far, so good. I’m pretty sure, soon they’ll start pushing me to take more of a leadership role. I’ll definitely let them know what I think about it when it happens.

 

my problem is with the use of the word "superior". I do not feel that anyone is superior to me. I may have had to work in a hierarchical situation, but that does not mean that any man or woman on earth is superior to me, and I refuse to accept the terminology.

 

What is your position on the term subordinate ?