Leadership

We all make mistakes.

Then there are those times when it’s A REALLY BIG mistake.

You know the kind. When everyone gets together after and tries to figure out, “What in the world just happened?”

Think United Airlines. They say they stuck to the rules when they deplaned a passenger against his will. Fallout? The stock fell sharply the next day. And the turbulence could last for months or even longer.

Big mistakes aren’t just embarrassing. They’re expensive. Just little grammar issues cost companies billions of dollars each year, one study found. Some poor decisions that led to big mistakes have buried companies, leaving people jobless.

Researchers say many big mistakes – such as the embarrassingly public 2017 Academy Awards Best Picture flub – could be avoided or at least minimized if people paid more attention to the factors that lead up to them.

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Quick question: How fast does it usually take you to rally your troops when you’ve got a problem that needs immediate attention?

If you’re still doing the calculation in your head because you can’t remember, now might be the time to examine the amount of flexibility you give your team.

We often have things running so smoothly that we’re taken by surprise when work hits a snag – an emergency or crisis that needs all hands on deck.

It can come as a shock when you’ve got to get your team focused, but they’re so busy doing their own thing.

I know this may seem counter-intuitive, but you may have let your desire to be a “flexible boss” go too far.

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Negative energy can take over fast if we’re not paying attention. And once it has a grip, it’s that much harder to break.

It might not be outright bullying or shouting matches. But you can sense when misery hangs over your team like a dark cloud. You don’t know if or when the storm will hit, but you can definitely feel it in the air.

How’d it happen?

Good leaders should never assume things are “fine.” Entire departments – even whole companies – can become so bogged down with negative vibes that only an overhaul will turn it around.

If unchecked, negativity can spread like a plague through a team, says leadership coach Michael Hyatt. “[It kills] cooperation and slows down the work we do,” he says.

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Everybody wants to start off on the right foot with a new boss.

Particularly if you’re that new boss.

First impressions count – but you’ve been up to your eyeballs figuring out your new job, meeting other higher-ups, and sorting through the mass of paperwork left by your predecessor.

So how do you make the most of those early introductions?

Here are 5 things you can do that will have a big impact – and, thankfully, they’re not hard to do.

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What are the three hardest words for a resourceful manager to say?

“I don’t know.”

Yep, you nailed it.

But “I don’t know” (and its cousin, “I’m not sure”) are actually three of the strongest words good leaders can use.

When said in the right manner, those words project both confidence and intelligence.

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I’ve always said, “I don’t have to like you to work with you.” Over the years that evolved into, “I don’t have to like you to manage you.”

It’s not that I am antisocial. I’m just stating facts from experience.

Of course, it’s more pleasant and easier to manage people you like.

But some experts say that having a team in which everyone gets along extremely well also weakens it.

Reason: We gravitate toward people who are like us and have similar values. So there’s no one to challenge our thinking.

But not liking someone can lead to conflicts that often result in new insights and resolutions.

So what happens if you really dislike someone you manage, but they’re really good at their job?

Well, you could get another job, but a better option: Accept the fact you don’t have to like everyone you manage.

All it requires is that you respect them or something about them. Acknowledging that they’re good at their job is a sign of respect.

Need more help?

Here are additional suggestions for managing people who rub you the wrong way:

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Almost all managers (98%, in fact) believe employees should have had more training in professional development, conflict resolution, time management and other skills before they became managers, says research recently published on Forbes.com.

Since it often falls to us to train employees for future managerial roles, it seems we’re falling short in equipping them with the complex and intangible skills they need to become proficient managers.

If we’re approaching managerial training by throwing employees to the wolves and hoping for the best, we’ll continue to get disappointing results – especially if we expect to promote from within.

So how do top resourceful managers train their future peers?

Here are seven steps that can help:

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The answer is easy: No one’s perfect. Everyone makes mistakes.

Great leaders try new things and push boundaries. Sure they make mistakes, but that’s how they learn what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t. They don’t dwell on a failure. Instead, they see it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Leaders that stay with the status quo and don’t experiment, quickly become stagnant!

So why do some managers make more than their fair share of bad decisions?

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How do you stack up to other managers and executives around the country?

As you start 2017, we thought you’d like to know.

ResourcefulManager surveyed 1,838 managers and executives, who directly manage other employees. The result was our exclusive 2017 Face of Management infographic.

Here are some of the key findings:

• 52% feel their departments are understaffed
• 40% think they are underpaid
• 45% work 50 hours or more hours a week
• 61% say they are average communicators at best.

Here’s the full infographic:

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As 2016 winds down, I’d like to tip my hat to the ResourcefulManager community.

I’ve talked to a lot of you this year and have exchanged emails with even more.

You’re an exceptional group. You care deeply about your staffs and you’re constantly working to become better managers and leaders.

And I’d like to think that we have helped you along the way. The only gifts we had to give were our blog posts.

We had more than 280,000 of you visit our web site this year to read them and you viewed more than 655,000 pages.

So I’ve compiled a list of the most read posts in The Top 10 ResourcefulManager Blog Posts of 2016.

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