Have you ever hit your thumb with a hammer instead of the nail you were aiming at? Most of us have and it hurts! The same thing is true, in various ways, almost everyday, for the Front Line Supervisor, the guy with his nose to the grind stone

Expectations are high for the Front Line Supervisor. If he screws up (hits his thumb) it is immediate apparent and there is no place to hide. Everyone from the top and the bottom are watching. If he is a new supervisor then the problem is doubled. More about the new supervisor later.

Let’s get the bottom line up front and make me explain, in plain English, what I’m driving at in this episode. It’s called leadership! The Front Line Supervisor must be an exceptional leader or he will not succeed. His crew is depending on him and those above him are anxious that he turn in good results. They want to get the biggest bang for their buck. Take a look at this road crew story and decide for yourself if this fellow is a leader or not.

THE ROAD CREW STORY

I’m sure you have seen these road crews in America and Japan. The only observable difference is that in Japan the person directing traffic is usually a senior citizen or a young girl. In America  and Europe women share the heavy work with the men. They will not have it any other way.

When I first started doing research for this book I spent a lot of time in libraries. However, it soon became apparently that all the material I was reading was not about the Front Line Supervisor but about someone higher up on the food chain. I needed a shot of reality and that is why I visited the road crew.

I arrived before the crew and found a spot where I could watch them without disturbing their work. When the yellow van arrived ,with the crew, nobody issued any orders as the crew, which included one female, disembarked.  Almost immediately they removed lunch boxes (O Bento in Japan) from the Van and set them in a shady spot.  The lunch boxes were lined up in a neat row perhaps in the order of rank. I tried to guess which lunch box was in charge, but soon gave up. They had achieved the first order of business for the day and were now ready to go to work.

Again nobody said anything ,as the tools were removed and people leisurely set out for their individual tasks which collectively would result in repair to the damaged spot in the road.  To the casual observer (me) it was not apparent that anyone was in charge and I began to wonder if I was wrong about  there being no such thing as self-directed teams, but then I knew someone belonged to that first lunch box. Sure enough, one of them, whom I had noticed was dressed a little better than the others and even looked a little cleaner got back in the Van and drove it to a place off the road where it would not be in the way of oncoming traffic. I guessed that this person was the supervisor. I approached him and  after assuring him I was authorized to be there and what my  purpose was. I started to ask him a few pertinent questions about assigning work and quality control. Before I could get an answer we were interrupted by some mild shouting over where the crew was working and he left me to look into the problem.

Bob – “She forgot the water jug.”

Mary – “Nobody told me it was my job.”

Bob – “Jugs are always a women’s job, Ha Ha.”

Mary – “Up yours.”

And so it went for a few minutes until the supervisor finally feed up with the bickering told them to go back to work. When Bob protested, that he was thirsty and wanted to use the Van to get some water the supervisor said, “NO” and then he told him in plain English to watch his mouth when talking to Mary. Grump, Grump went Bob, but Bob went back to work and on the way apologized to Mary.

I hung around all day. The supervisor told me “You won’t believe the stupid questions I get asked all day long. Just like a bunch of kids. Can I have this or that. My answer is NO. Many of my friends just can’t say no so they end up going places and doing things they don’t want to do. I like to keep my crew together, we’re close, he said. Even though I bitch about them, they’re good people. Every morning we punch in and I check the schedule. Everybody knows their job, because I trained them. Naturally there is some kidding around but everyone does their job without too much fooling around.” Who sets the standards? “ I do, was his reply.”

I watched with more than a little fascination at how this crew communicated. Rarely did anyone speak. Once in awhile they would look at the supervisor and he would shake his head yes or no. I figured they had their own secret language. Later I learned that this is true of all professions, doctors have their own language, airline pilots and work crews all communicated in their own special way.

What can we learn from this crew. I believe that the supervisor Hit’s the nail on the head when he says NO. What do you think? Should he have negotiated with Bob? Should he have made it clear earlier that no sexual harassment would be tolerated? Should he have checked to make sure that Mary brought the water? Did Mary really not know this was her job? Is he giving Mary preferential treatment because she is a female? What is this thing called leadership, anyhow? What follows are 10 (yeah, maybe I’m stuck on the number 10 ) leadership traits that you can use in connection with the 10 self-evaluation checks to grade yourself.

1.  Know yourself and seek self improvement.

2.  Be technically proficient.

3.  Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.

4.  Make sound and timely decisions.

5.  Set the example.

6.  Know your employees and look out for their welfare.

7. Keep your employees informed.

8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your employees.

9.  Ensure that the task is understood, supervised and accomplished.

10. Train your associates as a team.

There you have the essence of leadership. It is what the first lunch box guy or gal must do if the are to win that coveted spot as a SUPER FRONT LINE SUPERVISOR.

Before leaving you this month I want you to know that I’ll miss you. You are my customer and we will have a lot to say about who is who’s customer later. I also want to leave with you where this title “Whistle While You Work” came from. Remember Chuck? After he was stricken with cancer and had to retire he took up golf. He was not a good golfer and really irritated his friends because he was so slow. To overcome this new handicap Chuck started to whistle as he moved from hole to hole which was hard because he had had throat cancer. His fellow golfers soon relaxed and everyone played happily. He said, “how can you get mad at someone who is whistling or singing? Try it at your work place. It works!

What have we learned so far, (1) always say I’m fantastically wonderful, (2) make a self-evaluation, (3) follow the principles of leadership and  (4) above all whistle while you work.  Next month we will take up how to figure things out. See you on the blog.

Before I start, let me introduce a little bit about myself. I am a Japanese female, one of the first students of the IMBA program. I started as a Pre-IMBA student and it has been almost a year. I have taken 6 fundamental courses and 3 applied courses so far.

Globis University is known for using the “case study method,” and Globis uses cases that originate from Harvard Business School. Each course is made up of 6 classes over 3 months. The school year is divided up into 4 terms, each of which is 3 months. It might sound these courses are not so tough, but the case method forces us to prepare for each class for 6 to 8 hours, or even more! Many of the students take 2 or 3 courses, meaning they have to spare about 6 to 9 hours a week after they finish work or on weekends.

We have to read the case 2-3 times; perform qualitative analysis (such as the five forces); and also quantitative analysis of, for example, the market share, the cost structure, or the financial statement, in order to formulate action plans. The volume of the pages required varies each time, but some classes require 20 to 30 pages!! This is quite a heavy workload for non-native English speaker who works full-time! The subjects which require intensive quantitative analysis, such as Finance or Accounting, tend to have fewer pages but require work on spreadsheets for a couple of hours. Every time, the students have to submit a one- or two-page assignment about the questions in the syllabus.

There is already such a heavy workload, that I sometimes find out that I have no knowledge to answer the questions. So I have to read some reference books which are recommended by the lecturer.

The students have lots of materials to read, so sometimes they come to class with red eyes and fatigued faces due to lack of sleep!

The pictures below are: A case study and syllabus, and reference books.

In the class, we generally have a brief lecture or recap of the previous class and 2 to 3 group discussions. Then, one or two groups give a presentation followed by a class discussion facilitated by the lecturer. During the three-hour class, students have many chances to speak up. The class participation consists of about 50% of the grading, meaning I cannot pass the course if I stay silent in class.

The grade consists of 3 components: class participation, assignments, and a report. Class participation is evaluated with the number of the comments that the students addressed in the class discussion, and the quality of the comments. The lecturer evaluates them each class and post them on our individual pages of the students’ website.

Also, we have to hand in a report in the fourth class. Its grade and feedback are posted on the website. The lecturer gives a long and comprehensive feedback to the class, such as in the pictures, that includes the grading criteria, some important points to cover, and the proper thinking process. I like the feedback because I can check where I missed and absorb the insights from the lecturers. As our University places a high importance on logical thinking rather than just leaning knowledge, the feedback includes the thinking process. This is very precious because I learn how to make decisions from the lecturers who have practical experience in the business.

As I described, the program is pretty tough for part-time students. One thing that I enjoy while I study is a Social Networking Service (SNS) which is created exclusively for Globis students and alumni. I post some blogs now and then, and some of the Japanese students post some comments on mine. There are schools in Nagoya and Osaka, so that I make friends with them on the website!

All in all, I am very satisfied with the program and services. The school received the highest score in student satisfaction among Japanese business schools both in the 2009 and 2010 editions of Nikkei Career Magazine. I believe this learning environment is one of the key competitive advantages of Globis University.

Nanae Obara

Nanae Obara blogs on behalf of Globis University. To find out more about Globis University and education in japan visit the GaijinPot in Education pages.

If you are taking your time to read this I want to thank you – really thank you. I believe I have something to say that will help you. This Blog will last for 12 Chapters, one a month for the next year. My challenge is to boil down the 50,000 words I wrote for print media to something much shorter, interesting and meaningful to you and the publisher .

You probably want to know who is this guy who thinks he know something that I do not and wants to improve my performance? To be sure, I am not a famous guru. I am just a working stiff like you, but I have a few years under my belt and I have held a number of jobs which gave me the opportunity to observe and learn. I was a military officer and attended all of the educational opportunities they offer and I have Master Degree, but beyond that I have worked in two different Japanese Companies at a rather high level and taught International Business at an American University, in California.

So let’s get going. This is a “How To” so if you follow the advice you can become a Super Front Line Supervisor. There are several stories included. Stories of people I know. I have not changed their names or their history. Indian Annie is a real person who has had a hard, but interesting life.

The first thing I would like you to consider is what happens when someone asks you, “How you doin?” What do they expect to hear? My experience is that they expect you to tell them all about your aches and pains. As a minimum their expectation would be to hear “Oh, I’m O.K.” What they would really like to hear is that you have cancer and the Doctor has given you six months to live. This is what I want to ask you to try, if you are going to be a Super Front Line supervisor. The next time and every time, thereafter, when someone asks you, “How’s it?” I want you to answer, “I’m fantastically wonderful.”

This response is going to take them by surprise because they are expecting something negative. In fact, they may not like this response – at least at first. One lady told me she lost some friends when she tried this, but I assured her she would gain many more then she lost, if she continued. Sure enough, she did and is very happy now. This is step one in becoming a Super Front Line Supervisor. A spin off is that you are going to actually feel better yourself. Try it, “I am fantastically wonderful.” Doesn’t that feel good?

Chuck’s Story

Confession is said to be good for the soul. I need to share with you from whom I stole this idea. He was a retired Air Force Fighter Pilot, living in Arizona and dying from cancer. The important thing is that he knew he was dying and in the end he pulled the plug himself. No matter how bad he felt, he was always cheerful and when you asked, “Chuck, how are you feeling,” he always answered, “I’m fantastically wonderful.” When I first encountered this guy and learned that he was dying and knew it, I couldn’t believe his response, “fantastically wonderful.” One day, I finally summoned the courage to ask him why he did this and he said, “People expect to hear negative things, but they don’t want to hear that I’m dying every time they talk to me, so I try to cheer them up. “Makes me feel better, too”  “Why don’t you try it?” I did and he was right. Go ahead, try it again,” I’m fantastically wonderful” Feel good? Here’s a challenge for you. Try this in the morning before breakfast and see what happens.

If you work in a Japanese Company one of the expected behaviors is to give good morning greetings, such as above. You may think this is silly, but I assure you it is very serious. Perhaps you are already working in a Japanese Company and coming to work all grumpy. Meanwhile all the Japanese employees are busy greeting each other and especially greeting the boss. Give it a try and you may find yourself being promoted.

If you are thinking that you just can’t be that nice it is probably because you don’t really know how others view you. This is a “be careful” area, red flags waiving, egos on the line, and so on. Later we will have a session on evaluations that will let us see what happens when we view ourselves either too high or too low. The Super Front Line Supervisor knows himself very well. Here is a little 10 questions with 4 possible responses to each that you can use to find out about yourself and take corrective action.

Courage:
Do you have the courage to look someone in the eye and tell them their work is unsatisfactory?
Do you have the courage to tell middle management their idea sucks (with tact of course)?
Do you have the courage to confront an employee who you suspect has a drug or alcohol problem?
Do you have the courage to tell someone that they did a good job and not take credit for it yourself?

Decisiveness:
Do you sift out the wheat from the chaff and carefully select the best course of action?
Do you always have more than one way to get the job done?
Do you strive to always be consistent with your decisions?
Do you set achievable objectives?

Dependability:
Do you keep your promises?
Do you follow orders from above?
Do you take the initiative and do things you see need to be done without being told?
Do you show up on time – every time?

Endurance:
Do you smoke?
Do you drink excessively?
Do you have a regular exercise routine?
Do you encourage others to take care of their health?

Enthusiasm:
Do you bad mouth superiors?
Do you complain in front of others about the bosses?
Do you emphasis success – on the job?
Do you always say fantastically wonderful when asked, “How’s it going?”

Humility:
Do you always insure that others get their share of the credit?
Do you always emphasis group unity?
Do you always emphasis accomplishments by saying “we?”
Do you use phrases such as I’m sorry or I made a mistake rather than finger pointing?

Humor:
Do you sometimes violate the biggest no-no by making fun of someone?
Do you sometimes embarrass others by playing practical jokes?
Do you know how to joke when the going gets tough?
Do you know the difference between joking about someone and joking with them?

Selflessness:
Do you let everyone else take a break before you do?
Do you share hardship assignments with your workers?
Do you look for opportunities to provide employee assistance to those in need?
Do you do more than just give verbal support to employees in need?

Justice:
Do you act even handed in all matters?
Do you rate employees without prejudice?
Do you use promotion and punishment effectively?
Do you represent all employees honestly to middle management?

Knowledge:
Do you know the details of every job that you are responsible for ?
Do you take action to improve yourself?
Do you train your subordinates?
Do you make on the spot corrections of inadequate work?

The next time we meet we will be talking about Leadership. The chapter title is “How to hit the nail on the head.” You will meet the Road Crew Gang and deal with Sexual harassment. See you on the blog and remember to give good morning greetings and always say, I am fantastically wonderful.

So what’s an English teacher to do?

Now is your chance to explore your entrepreneurial creativity, take some time to re-do your curriculum, or re-build your lesson portfolio. My experiences in the few years I’ve been here (six) indicate that a lot of us[semi-professional English teachers] are teaching from web resources or from out-dated texts. Take a look at what you are using for materials, and assess it for communicative content;

-are your students learning English phrases they will use?

-are supplying vocabulary that is current?

-do your students enjoy your class?

-are you letting them ‘get-by’, or are you challenging them to grow?

Many of our potential clients may have lost confidence in the effectiveness of English lessons in Tokyo. The responsibility falls on the teachers, I have seen ridiculous lessons, I have followed terrible lessons plans. Though I would like to teach better lessons my hands are often tied by the employer, I am required to teach a particular text. Over time I have learned how to squeeze some useful English into a particularly dull lesson. Take a bit of ingenuity and assess the needs of the class.

We need to restore the image of English as a tool for success! A good lesson is informative AND enjoyable. A curriculum that addresses the special needs of your clients particular sector is crucial to getting a contract. The teachers need to display energy, and appear interested in giving the students something to think about. This will restore confidence in English for personal and business growth.

thanks for reading,

ian

However, all is not well in this oasis!

As an English Teacher I am apart from the requirements of the regular staff, I don’t need to get chopsticks for my superiors, nor do I have to spring-up and answer the phone when the intercom goes off. I, may sit and eat. Sometimes an older teacher will come amidst the feeding frenzy (younger teachers are expected to quickly imbibe their victuals, in order to make room for others) and briefly interrogate one of their assistants. Causing said assistant to abandon his or her hot lunch for a few minutes to take care of some vitally important task, for example, carrying some fake heads(used to put curlers in) down from or up to the classroom. Only to return for an equally short time to finish off their now cold lunch.

Sometimes a younger hungry teacher’s helper might mistakenly start his or her lunch before the more senior young assistant, and low an behold the indignant looks and questioning glances abound! It would seem that hierarchy is more important than camaraderie in the three person team of Teacher, Teacher’s Assistant and Helper. However in a similar situation in North America the less senior employee would calmly retort “I’m on my break.” Not in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo though.

Also unique is the phrase uttered when entering the lunchroom, “I have come to eat the provided lunch” or even more astonishing when a big-wig comes in to the lunch room, for he or she was too busy to take the earlier time allotted for them, and everyone (myself included) pipe up with “I have done the unforgivable, started to eat before you.” Having become used to these proceedings I deem myself past that fourth stage of culture shock, and am now ready to integrate.

You too, shall become accustomed to the customs!

thanks for reading

ian