Today I am thinking about the famous saying: “POSITIONS are TEMPORARY. RANKS and TITLES are limited. But the way you treat people will always be remembered.”
I shouldn’t agree with that more than I do, and there is nothing to add to this saying, it is very clear.
In my work/world, this is a pressing “problem”. There are quite a few managers who get to a position/title through connections and acquaintances, but they are not yet mature enough to step into such big shoes, and of course this shows in their leadership. In the majority of such cases, their knowledge and planning are at a very high level, the shortcomings are mainly manifested in relationships.
I too grew wings as I stepped one step higher in my professional career for the first time. I got the feeling that now I “have more value” and this was reflected in my attitude towards people. Of course, I regret this, but I take it as a very instructive lesson.
We cannot turn back time, but we can learn from our mistakes. It taught me when, after several years, I reached a really high managerial level, a global level. One would think that people here are much more “full of themselves”… but that’s not the case. Or. yes, s(m)o is full of himself, but in the good sense of the phrase: full of knowledge, full of experience, full of gratitude, full of emotions,… this (otherwise very important leap) also happened to me and I am grateful that I came to the realization that being a leader is not just a “title” that allows you to manage people, but an important role from which you can learn a lot more, and above all you have to be able to stay on solid ground and draw gratitude for opportunities, which were offered and growing day by day.
I myself stress a lot that the dictatorial way of leading leads nowhere. It may be most effective to a point if the team members are not the most organized, conscientious, and reliable,… but in the long run, dictatorship is the worst possible form of leadership.
Dictatorial management has zero human attitudes toward employees.
»In a dictatorial management approach, leaders tell people what to do without emphasizing the reasons why the work needs to be done.«
Good leadership equals good relationships.
Today I will describe an example from my life; two lines, same organization, same position.
The first platoon, called “LEADER X”, was less experienced than us event managers in her team, she had less knowledge of managing volleyball events than us, she was new to this “our volleyball world”, she had no insight into the world of volleyball events, until she took up this position, she also did not know the basics of sports event management.
The other manager, called “MANAGER Y”, was less experienced than us event managers in her team, she had less knowledge of managing volleyball events than us, she was new to this “our volleyball world”, she had no insight into the world of volleyball events, until she took up this position, she also did not know the basics of sports event management.
Yes, exactly the same predispositions…
The difference in her management was… ugh…
Manager X: she wanted to learn from us “more experienced” despite the fact that she was our “boss” by function, she wanted to hear our opinion, process our experiences, she followed us at events, observed how we work, asked questions, asked learned from us, but she was still able to lead us, coordinate our contracts, prepare work plans, schedules, budgets, etc. She respected our knowledge and experience, she wanted to build a team of people with beautiful, clean, honest relationships, she treated us as equals and, at the end of the day, as colleagues. She included us in all the briefings, in the preparations for the new season, in the planning of changes at the events,… Me personally and my colleagues, we had no problem with the fact that our new water was less experienced than us, we were happy to talked to her, gave her our opinions, advised her on her learning steps. There was pure harmony between us, the work flowed, the relations “tuned in” and at the end of the events we kept in touch until the next project.
Manager Y: As soon as the feature came out, she let us know that things were going to be different! (commanding inclination!) (Up to this point I was still in happy anticipation of a new way of working, I like challenges, I like to learn from different people, I like order and discipline, I have no problem with the following instruction, if it is so sensible and well prepared, …)
When they started to prepare for the new season, she completely excluded us from the planning, she decided to make changes that only seemed to make sense (she has the right to do so as a manager), the opinions of everyone else became irrelevant (despite her inexperience and our years of experience ), during the events themselves, she micromanaged us and when they didn’t like something, she literally used the words: “I want you to do it this way and if I say so, you have to do it this way!” … while managing “challenges” at the events, she literally stuck to her ideas, despite us trying to tell them that they are not ok, that they have a bad effect on the teams, the event itself,… After the events, she excluded us from the briefings, she worked with us as materials on an industrial assembly line: as long as the material is used, you keep it, when it has done its job, you throw it away.
We (members of her team) lost the will to work, she killed all our love for volleyball events, she made us small, insignificant, by this she promoted herself and felt that she was the “big boss”. Of course, our contribution became smaller and smaller, we only did what we were paid for, we no longer had the will to engage in a debate with her, she also devalued our work and reputation to the point that experienced, good people started to leave our company. . the team. It is probably not necessary to write that no one has a relationship with manager Y, no one is in contact with her, even less that they have something nice to say to each other between seasons.
So, two different people, two completely different characters and a HUGE difference in their way of management in the same function, in the same position, in the same organization.
To relate to the essence of today’s writing: positions, titles, are temporary. Nothing is forever. A leader’s relationship with his team remains forever. Manager X has not been our manager for 2 years now, but we still talk about her, silently wishing we could turn back time. We are still in touch with her, we still have something nice to say to each other. Her way of leading and her respectful, down-to-earth attitude will forever remain in our memory as a very big lesson, how with good relationships within the team, a good leader can build a high level of performance, despite inexperience and initial lack of professional knowledge.
Finally, I repeat myself:
“JOBS are TEMPORARY. POSITIONS and TITLES are limited. But people will always remember the way you treat people!”
Let’s be like leader X and not leader Y!
