Page 129 - Becoming a Successful Manager

120 ESTABLISHING A SOLID DEPARTMENTAL FOUNDATION

Following are some ways you may inadvertently demon-
strate distrust. If you micromanage, you demonstrate lack of
trust in your staff and in your abilities as a manager. If you do
not delegate work when appropriate, they may think you don’t
trust them to do the work. If you don’t elicit honest, productive
feedback from your employees, they will think you are trying
to hide from something.
Perceived distrust yields untrustworthiness. It is a vicious
circle. Distrust discourages risk taking and initiative in your
employees, and then you can’t trust them to be productive
members of your team. All of this undermines the cohesiveness
of your department if it is allowed to proliferate.

• Lack of accountability. You will fail your department if you
refuse to take responsibility for issues that arise. Likewise, your
employees should accept responsibility for their actions. Before
a problem can be solved, someone has to own it and then ensure
that a course of action will be taken to rectify the situation. Pass-
ing the buck will not accomplish anything and will lead to an

infinite, costly circle of blame.

• Impatience. People also have varying abilities and aptitudes;
it is unfair and unreasonable to assume that everyone has the
same potential, can excel in the same manner, and can work
at the same pace. Expressing impatience only worsens the
situation.
Impatience can be expressed in many ways. You or your
employees may expect more from someone than the person is
capable of giving and become frustrated and impatient with
the person. Or you may expect too much too soon and give up
on the struggling employee prematurely. As is the case with
some plants, certain people require more time to develop or