Page 73 - Becoming a Successful Manager

64 ESTABLISHING A SOLID DEPARTMENTAL FOUNDATION

open dialogue with potential positive outcomes. The best way to
do it is to start with you owning the problem by saying, “I am not
sure I explained what I needed from you. Can we talk about it?”
This always leads to better communication and understanding
between your employee and yourself.
Similarly, you might have someone in your department whom
you consider to be a bad seed. Perhaps this person upsets the posi-
tive exchange of information within the group through defensive-
ness or a negative attitude. By merely observing that your employee
is a bad seed, you do nothing to amend the situation. You need to
take an active approach. Perhaps this person doesn’t feel as if she

fits in with the group. If this is the case, how might you encour-
age a sense of teamwork and cooperation? Asking questions, with
an attitude of wanting to better understand the cause, provides a
guide for the appropriate next steps.
Be more aware of your approach to interpersonal commu-
nications with your employees by replacing passive and negative
thoughts with active and positive ones on a daily basis. Then
observe what happens.

Creating a Fertile

Departmental Culture

To create and perpetuate a fertile departmental culture, encourage
all employees to adopt attitudes that will enable them to be produc-
tive, to perform their jobs conscientiously, and to act professionally
toward their co-workers, customers, vendors, and even competi-
tors. You do this by incorporating what we call the positive atti-
tude adoption program. This program is a three-phase process that
requires the cooperation and contributions of all your employees.