How to be a Super Front-Line Supervisor of 4 to 10 people
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.
