It’s the things I observe outside of the office that tend to help make me effective in the office. As example, one of my brothers has a four year old daughter. Cute little thing with blond hair and blue eyes. She’s tall for her age and smart. Scary smart. It’s very clear to anyone who pays attention that she knows FAR more than she lets on.
This intelligence is coupled with an independence streak which, on occasion, frustrates her parents. It’s interesting to watch them raise this little girl. She needs discipline and structure, but they don’t want to make her submissive. They are proud of her innate ability to stand alone, make decisions and push back. They recognize that these traits will serve her well in life. Their challenge, I would guess, is to help her learn when she can push, and when she should fall in line. To teach her how to judge a situation and which of her strengths and/or abilities she should apply to that situation.
The same thing applies in our office. At the end of the day, the boss is the boss is the boss. But as a “boss” we need to let team members push the boundaries, as it will make us better in the long run. It’s why we hire smart people. The hope of course is that the smart team members figure out where the boundaries are.
I recently told a young employee of ours that everything I learned about management I learned through playing, coaching and officiating team sports. Usually kids 15 years old and younger. I think I’ll add parenting young children to that list.
