A great mystery, to me, was that many of the leaders that I encountered during my career, did not realize that those who worked for them had functioning eyes and ears and, all five senses, as well as brains that were in good working order!

It seems that there is a disconnect, at times, in both employment leaders and political leaders, that causes them to believe that have, suddenly, become endowed with special powers and a revamped lung structure…that allows them to breath a, rarified air, that we commoners are not equipped to enjoy?

During my, work years, I asked, one, supervisor to please decide which story that he was going to consistently tell, as his truth, before I repeated his position to the staff.

On another occasion I felt compelled to admonish a chancellor that if he insulted my intelligence, again, that I was going to conclude my meeting with him!

Now, my management abilities were far less than what I strove for…but I, set my course…from the beginning of my career, to be fair.

If you are a successful leader…you owe everything to the dedicated colleagues that are diligently working to make you look good!

Fairness is not something that you talk about…it is something that you do.

Some vital principles of fairness are:

1. When you tell a member of your staff that you are going to do something for them, you should move heaven and earth to make your vow come to pass.
2. Listen to each member of your team with the purpose of learning from them.
3. If the last member of the department is being mis-treated by a senior member of the staff…listen to them and rectify the situation.
4. Never engage in political speech or feel good anecdotes when interacting with your colleagues; if you are not intent on backing the words that came out of our mouth.
5. Never lie to anyone!

‘The management by wandering around, (MBWA), also management by walking around, refers to a style of business management which involves managers wandering around, in an unstructured manner, through the workplace(s), at random to check with employees, equipment, or on the status of ongoing work.  The emphasis is on the word wandering as an unplanned movement within a workplace, rather than a plan where employees expect a visit from managers at a more systematic, pre-approved or scheduled times.’    Management by wandering around, Wikipedia

 

‘The expected benefit is that a manager, by random sampling of events of employee discussions, is more likely to facilitate improvements to the morale, sense of organizational purpose, productivity and total quality management of the organization, as compared to remaining in a specific office area and waiting for employees, or the delivery of status reports, to arrive there, as events warrant in the workplace.’    Management by wandering around, Wikipedia

Focusing on staff and interacting with them on a regular basis, in a positive manner, is empowering to them and a generator of excellence!

When I talked with a Building Service Worker…I remembered that I had been a Building Service Worker.  I recalled bow proud that I was of the, professional, housekeeper position that it had been my good fortune to obtain.

When I spoke with a Building Custodian, later entitled Sub-foreman, I remembered the challenges and stresses that that were involved in the crew supervisor position.

When I spoke with Building Service Worker III’s, later referred to as Foreman, I understood that I was speaking with managers, and that they were essential in ensuring quality control and high morale in our department.

When I spoke with our student custodial staff…I knew that I was speaking with people that had a wealth of ability and, without them, we could not accomplish our cleaning goals, and that they were the, entire, reason that we existed!