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    You are here Home » management

    15 Ways to Set a Positive Example as a Manager

    Last updated on Mar 25, 2014 by Dan McCarthy · This post may contain affiliate links

    “I'm not a role
    model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your
    kids.”

    - Charles Barkley

    When you’re a manager, like it or not, you ARE a role model.
    All eyes are on you. The example you set has an enormous impact on your direct
    report employees and those around you. If you are a newly promoted or hired
    manager, your employees will watch, listen, and learn about what matters to
    you, what’s important, what to do and what not to do. If you’ve been a manager
    in the same role for a while, they already have learned, and the norms you’ve
    perhaps unconsciously established are more powerful than that “Our Company
    Values” poster on the wall.

    In addition to influencing your employee’s behavior and
    attitudes through your day-to-day behaviors, you’re also having an impact on their
    long term development. We all learn powerful leadership lessons from the
    examples – both positive and negative – from current and former managers.

    Do you want your employees to conduct themselves with the
    highest level of professionalism? You may want to review following list and ask
    yourself the following questions:

    Is this what I would expect and want from my employees? Am I
    setting the right example? What kind of lessons am I teaching?

    Note: none of the items on the list below are made up – all are
    from the Great Leadership files of actual manager behaviors. Hopefully not my
    own.

    1. Arrive to work and meetings on time, and don’t make a
    habit of leaving early.

    2. Pay attention to your own development. Be a humble and
    continuous learner, and be transparent about your development needs and what
    you are doing to overcome them.

    3. Ask for feedback – be open to it and listen – and be
    willing to give caring, constructive, and frank feedback to others.

    4. Be open to change – especially when the change isn’t your
    own idea. When a change is announced, employees will be looking at you to see
    how they should react.

    5. Don’t participate in gossip, spreading rumors, or
    speaking poorly about your boss, fellow managers, or about another one of your
    employees.

    6. Be discreet and respect confidences.

    7. Keep your non-work related business to a minimum. And don’t
    ask your employees to assist with your non-work related business (i.e., picking
    up your clothes at the drycleaner).

    8. Treat everyone – regardless of their level or degree of
    influence – with respect.

    9. Tell the truth – be a straight shooter, with no white
    lies.
    Own
    up to your own mistakes
    .

    10. Keep the cynicism and sarcasm to a minimum. It poisons
    the work environment.

    11. Maintain a sense of humor – about yourself – but never
    at the expense of others.

    12. Pitch in and lend a hand doing the dirty work now and
    then.

    13. Watch your language – with few exceptions, don’t swear.
    I don’t care what
    the
    studies
    say – there’s no place for F-bombs in the vocabulary of a professional
    manager.

    14. Don’t lavish yourself or your management team with perks
    that are off-limits to the rank and file.

    15. Maintain a professional distance from your employees – you
    are their manager, not their friend
    .

    While you may not agree with every item on the list, wouldn’t
    you prefer to work for a manager who follows most of them?
    « Key Performance Indicators of Good Leadership
    The Obligation to Dissent »
    AFTER ENTRY

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