Respect and Like

Have you just started to manage?  Have you been managing for years but feel uncomfortable with the fuzzy boundaries between you and your team?  It’s hard thing to be one of the team and suddenly promoted to being their boss.  It happens all the time.

A wise person once told me to focus on gaining respect rather than trying to have everyone like me.  I was meekly asking my team member to ‘please could you when you can do the report we talked about but whenever you can’ even though I needed to deliver it right away.  I learned that it was annoying to my team that I was so meekly managing them.  They needed leadership and clear priorities.  Yes, they were annoyed that I had been their peer and now their supervisor, but then I might as well get on with it and do it..  Our relationships changed, but we all felt ok about it and socialized differently and created great work.

Think about your boss.  Does he drive you crazy with having to make a change on everything you do?  But does he also make sense and advocate for you and give you opportunities for growth>  Chances are you may not like him so much, but do have respect for him.