Be Careful When Biting the Hand that Feeds You
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (90645)
United States
October 23, 2024 10:58am CST
When I was in management, I was fairly successful at it. It didn't mean things went right all of the time. But things went right most of the time. And that was for one very simple reason.
I was well aware that I was not the boss. The employees who worked under me were actually my boss.
The people who drove the forklifts. The people who mixed the product. The people who ran the machines. They were the people who made it all run smoothly. And in order for them to be incentivized to do their jobs, and do them well, it was very important for me to understand where I stood in the grander scheme of things.
Treat them wrong and they'd slow down. Fail to communicate on level with them and they'd make more mistakes. Fail to understand their needs, and that I was to be in a supportive role rather than one of authority and they'd let me know really fast that my success would only be a product of what kind of a work environment I fostered through my leadership.
Time and time again I saw bosses get fired. And that was because if they could not lead their workers to work for them and do a good job, if they failed to understand their position (the real one), workers would do their best to make it harder on them, and produce less results—leaving the upper echelon no choice but to lay the blame on the boss and get rid of him.
In management my belief was always to lead by example. To guide and assist my workers. To foster their advancement. To recognize their qualities and appreciate what they did for me to succeed.
Trying to throw my weight around or lay down an iron fist and treat people like they were beneath me, or trying to convey some false sense of a power structure that never existed except in a vivid imagination would surely have sent me packing long before a single worker was ever fired.
The workers ran the show. As a member of management, I was very aware of this. The workers were literally the hands that fed me. If I succeeded in leading them right, they'd produce the results to advance my own career. If I lost sight of where I really stood in the big picture...
The hands that fed me would be the same hands grabbing the door handle and leading me through the exit.
10 people like this
10 responses
@marguicha (222965)
• Chile
23 Oct
You are so right. And it works even at a small scale. Only yesterday my handyman (Anita, my maid´s brother) came at odd hours after his job to fix me a door in the kitchen. I gave him the last piece of cake with a cup of coffeee and asked him how much I owed him. He said he was paid with the cake.
I treat my maids, gardeners and the like well (as they should be treated) and they give me more than I deserve.
I treat my maids, gardeners and the like well (as they should be treated) and they give me more than I deserve.2 people like this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
23 Oct
@akalinus A happy and productive employee is one who feels appreciated and valued for the work they do and the contributions they make to the enterprise. It SHOULD be management 101. And it probably is. But that's the part of the lesson most people skip over wanting to get to the "How to boss everyone around so you can sip your coffee in your office before it gets cold" part.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178568)
• United States
24 Oct
I always treated my staff really well and wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself. Have a good day.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178568)
• United States
25 Oct
@porwest That's the way it should be.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
26 Oct
@LindaOHio Unfortunately, it is not always the way that it is.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
24 Oct
This was another part of my role that was helpful (wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself). Not only did I do every single job I managed at one time, I knew HOW to do every single job on the production line. It gave me a much better understanding of how things work and what the worker's experiences were.
I could relate to them. And they knew I knew what I was talking about if I offered a suggestion.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47308)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
24 Oct
@porwest So you had all the Coke you could hold?
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
24 Oct
@BarBaraPrz Well, for a quarter each, yes. lol
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (69646)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Oct
That's very true. It's a very good approach. Most people don't think of the chain of command and that without the workers, you'd have notheing to manage. We're all people. And I was always told treat others how you'd like to be treated.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (69646)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
24 Oct
@porwest Exactly. I feel the same way about AI. It's good technology sure, but it's only as good as the info you put into it. And, since it's learning it's going to get a lot wrong along the way. Same as a manager, same as a machine. no matter what, it's only as good as the pieces that make it.
@porwest (90645)
• United States
24 Oct
It's just like maintaining your machine as a machine operator. If you set it up wrong, and don't carefully monitor it and make adjustments—essentially treat the machine right and care for it—it's not going to run efficiently or at all. People aren't machines, of course. But if you don't take care of them, your business will suffer, and managers will not achieve the production goals they want to.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
23 Oct
My name has been misspelled here since day one. It's not Bauer. It's Tower. Now you know. lol
But yes, I think understanding the REAL dynamic of the employee/employer relationship is a very important one to understand, and if you get it right, you'll have a very successful and productive career in management.
As soon as someone walks away from a situation thinking, "I'm the boss, applesauce, and that's that," there is going to be a BIG problem.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
24 Oct
A LOT of the problem, at least I found a lot of the time, is either they pull their managers from a pool of people having never been on the production line or the ones who seek out these positions just want to be the boss instead of the worker, and they either don't understand what it takes to do the jobs they are managing or simply don't want to do the jobs but want the authority to control people.
The BEST managers are often the ones who are promoted from within who NEVER applied to be in a management role, but were selected by other management because of their abilities and encouraged to accept positions they did not ask to be promoted to.
We used to call it, "seeking out the next in line." You were always looking for the next person best suited to make a step up, and when you determined who they were, you started the grooming process.
1 person likes this
@luisadannointed (6189)
• Philippines
23 Oct
Wow! Not everyone like you. I hope many people will do the same, because most of them are insecure and love to power trip.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (106192)
• Marion, Ohio
23 Oct
You sound like a good boss. Too many just want to shove their weight around.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
24 Oct
I think part of my success was that I was promoted from within after having been on production lines long before ever becoming a manager. And so, I had a better perspective about the process and the work people were doing. I also never sought it out to become a manager. It simply came to me, I took the job (a bit reluctantly) and the rest was history.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
23 Oct
No. lol. That's just an AI generated picture. But yes, I think the key to successful management of people is to understand your true role rather than what most people perceive that role to be. The minute, as a boss, you think you are in charge of things you have to step back, take a deep breath, and come back to reality. The people in charge are the ones on the production line making everything go. If you take care of them, they will take care of you. If you forget who's in charge? You're going to have a REALLY tough time getting anything accomplished.
It's like I told an unruly boss in my younger days once, "I can make this machine go fast, or I can make it go slow. On top of that, when I make it go slow, I can make it look like I'm not trying to make it go slow. The ball is in your court."
@Metsrock69 (3582)
• United States
24 Oct
I have been driving a forklift on and off for 20 years. The place I work now is the best place to date.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90645)
• United States
24 Oct
Out of all the jobs I had, the best one was actually working for a pest control company out of New Berlin, WI that I sort of landed on a bit by accident. But it also led me to one of the best paying jobs I ever had after that and a complete career change. Funny how life works sometimes, hey?
