Imagine for a moment that your child or spouse is sick. You know that there is medicine available that will make him or her better, but because you didn’t invent the medicine, you will not use it. Unthinkable as this is, many mangers follow this thought process every day.
As a boss, how many times have you come across programs, articles or blogs that would be of benefit to your team, but because it wasn’t your idea you didn’t pass along the information?
The reason can be twofold;
- You think you are too busy to teach, train, or develop your people
- Just plain fear. If I educate my team they might end up knowing more than I do
If you think you are too busy then you are playing Russian roulette. By not taking the time to teach, train, and develop your team you are setting yourself up for sub-par performance. You will soon find yourself asking why they aren’t doing things the right way. Don’t they know there is a better way? If you are fostering an air of ignorance by not teaching your pupils then that is exactly what you will achieve.
If you give your people the ammunition, the tools of education and learning, they might use them and become smarter than you. The pupil becomes the teacher. If they are educated with new ideas they might start questioning you. They might start asking the dreaded why questions. They might start challenging you. The ineffective boss certainly couldn’t accept that! It is better to keep them ignorant and in the dark!
The examples in everyday life are endless. If you are a gardener and you don’t show someone the proper way to pot a plant aren’t you inviting failure? If you are a dentist and you don’t show someone the proper way to brush and floss, aren’t you inviting tooth decay? If you don’t teach your children that the stove is hot aren’t you inviting a burn? If you are a boss and you don’t show your teams a better way of doing something aren’t you inviting failure?
This sort of thinking is so short sighted and prevalent among ineffective bosses. If I can keep my people down, keep them ignorant, keep them in the dark then I win. Don’t you want your friends, family and loved ones to be healthy and happy? Don’t you want your children to be more successful than you are? The same thought process should apply to your Team.
What is the difference between an ineffective boss and an effective boss?
The ineffective boss doesn’t believe in the importance or power of education, of training or of working in a cooperative spirit, he believes in the divide-and-conquer approach. His thought process goes something like this, “If I don’t teach and train my team then I can take all of the credit when things go well because I am the only one who really knows anything. I can also blame others when things go wrong, because they didn’t do their job correctly. I strive to keep people in their place as subservient to me, the boss.”
On the other hand, the effective boss believes that knowledge is power. He is not afraid of educating his team. He believes in the spirit of teamwork and cooperation. When things go well he passes the credit on to those who actually did the work. When things go wrong he is the first one in line to take the blame because he is the leader, it was his mistake. He strives to raise up his people and helps them be the best they can be.
The effective boss wants to pass along and share any information or ideas that might be of benefit to the team. He seeks out advice, programs, blogs, or articles that might help with the training and development of his people. The effective boss wants his people to succeed, and he knows that education and knowledge is the best way to achieve success.
Everyone has a choice. As a boss you can choose to focus only on yourself, not give your team any more information or knowledge than you absolutely have to, keep your team in the dark about what is going on, or you can choose to focus on your team. Give them all of the information and knowledge you have to help them grow, give them details about the how and why of a situation, shed light on any situation. The choice, as a boss, is yours to make.
- The ineffective boss strives to keep their people ignorant and in the dark.
- The effective boss seeks out knowledge and wants to bring their people into
the light.
Which boss are you?
I agree completely from the bosses standpoint. Educating your employees and offering as much transparency as possible can ensure success. To add my thoughts, from an employee standpoint, a smart employee will learn regardless of the bosses teaching. Just like a smart child will learn not to touch the stove again. Just like a gardener will learn on his own (or google) how to plant effectively. In previous jobs I have had to learn dynamically and on the fly. The boss is always busy. The parents are always busy. Training and business awareness is almost non-existent. People in charge take for granted the knowledge they have. If you can comprehend that as an employee you can take and make steps to educate yourself, adapt, and learn from your mistakes. I never underestimate the power of research, communication, and the ability for someone to educate themselves.
Very well said. To add my thoughts….sometimes “the boss” wants to teach, train and develop but is uncertain of how to start. They are afraid that if they try, their lack of training abilities may show through and ultimately; their “percieved power by position” will be diminished. Learning how to manage this type of supervisor and help them self develop (without them realizing it), can be well worth your effort. Not only will it benefit you, but the entire team you are working with as well.
Strongly believe what you said. Knowledge is power and very little in retail is top secret. Share, share, share and create a winning team!