“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they’re capable of being” – Johann Von Goethe
What you’re about to read is based on a true story. People usually start at the bottom to climb the corporate ladder to the top. Many new recruits have risen to become CEOs or top executives in the companies they work for. As new entrants, they had to be trained by people who would later become their subordinates.
That’s a fact of life.
In the military, a drill sergeant puts recruits through weeks of gruelling exercises. During this period he is their boss. But he ends up becoming a subordinate to those who survive, to graduate as “officers”!
A Reversal In Your Status Is No License to Mis-treat Those You’ve Surpassed
When a reversal of roles/status happens, interesting changes in the behaviour of people can occur. I’ve seen persons who turned round to victimize a former superior, saying s/he was too harsh on them.
Some people also look down on those they feel have lower status, position or authority to theirs.
Smart managers however know better than to treat their subordinates without consideration. Not even if such persons mis-treated them in the past, when their roles were reversed.
A Manager Dis-respects His Subordinates and Pays a Steep Price (True Story)
Some years ago, a set of graduate trainees recruited into a large manufacturing company underwent a company wide induction. As is the normal practice in most organisations, guidance and tutelage was given by people who later became their reports.
One trainee line manager was taken through the workings of factory plants by shop floor operatives. But he later became a thorn in their flesh, upon being confirmed as a full fledged manager…and their boss.
For this individual, it seemed having to learn from his future subordinates, was so damaging to his ego that he needed to erase the memory, by asserting himself at every opportunity.
So he frequently screamed instructions at the – mostly much older – men. And he rarely cut them any slack if they made mistakes or needed favours e.g. to attend to family matters.
Many got randomly served query letters anytime they worked the same shift with him, if he felt the output was not good enough. As a result, during end of year appraisal interviews, the men generally prayed not to have him chosen to assess their performance. Those who did rarely fared well.
Over the years, a silent resentment grew amongst the men towards this particular individual.
One night shift, an important machine on the production line stopped working. The operators called on the manager, claiming they did not know what the fault was.
From 11p.m till the close of that shift at 6a.m, this young man sweated trying to get the technicians to find the fault with the plant.
All to no avail. He was forced to write a handover saying the machine needed major engineering repairs. No work was done on his shift. He left for home feeling dejected.
Amazingly, 5 minutes after the next shift resumed, the resuming operators had the machine working!
When asked, he said he could find nothing wrong with it.
Your guess is as good as mine, as to what happened during that night shift…
Morale: Your Subordinates Can Make You Rise or Fall
That young manager could have had a better night shift, if he enjoyed the goodwill of his subordinates.
That is something that helps many managers look good on their jobs. It’s rarely that they know-it-all.
Back in Guinness, I had a habit of spending considerable time with factory shop floor operatives who reported to me, when I was a shift brewer. I always stopped to share jokes, ask after their families etc.
Even after I got promoted, and elevated to acting as a departmental head, I never gave up the habit.
Interestingly, some of my colleagues found reason to challenge me for associating that closely with shop floor level operatives in the company. They argued that as a manager, I needed to distance myself a bit from them, to avoid losing the necessary respect that would ensure I could control them.
But I ignored them. What I was doing was not acting. It was a natural thing with me. And if anything, rather than make me lose the respect of these men, I found that we actually bonded more!
A former expatriate boss – who was then Technical manager (and would later influence my promotion into higher positions lent credence to this assertion. He once wrote in a feedback form, that I had the loyalty of the men I worked with, and that my shift always delivered results.
And he was right. The relationship I shared with those men was a true friendship. These men often tried to discourage me from going on my inspection rounds while on night shift.
According to one of the shift leaders, when working with me, the men were always prepared to put in their best to make me look good. They felt they owed me a good outing any time I ran with them.
They’d say “Baba, look we will work for you. You need not nbother comeing to check on us!”
Of course, being a responsible manager, I never accepted to do that. However, I rarely had reason to think doubt their commitment either. Whenever we had problems on the shift, my heart always swelled with gratitude, to see them displaying just as much interest as I had in getting them resolved.
And if we failed, some actually felt so bad, they would come to apologise personally to me!
Final Words
You must understand that these men were mostly twice as old as I was. Most joined the company before I was even born! What’s more, I had been opportune, by virtue of my relationship with some, to meet their kids – who were about my age, and university graduates too.
Yet, they still maintained the respect they had for me.
That proves one thing: Respect is earned. And it is reciprocal. Treating people with respect will earn you their respect. In addition, it will bring out the best in them, and make them committed to helping you achieve YOUR goals!
So, no matter what anyone tells you, know this: The safest, and most reliable way to move up the corporate ladder (and stay there) is to treat your subordinates with respect at all times.