How can you Gain Respect as a New Manager Or Team Leader?
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Learn how to gain respect as a new manager or team leader
Everyone wants respect. Nobody wants to be disrespected.
There are two ways to gain respect:
- You can try to demand respect from others.
- You can earn respect from others.
Only the second method will work.
You cannot simply demand respect. You have to earn it. How?
Let us consider that question:
You cannot demand respect and expect to get it.
Many people mistakenly think that they can demand respect by virtue of the fact, that they hold a certain post, social position, age or rank.
For example, you hear people say:
- You should respect your elders.
- You should respect police officers.
- You should respect authority.
- You should respect women.
- You should respect your parents.
- You should respect your manager.
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The implication is that you should respect the person holding the position, post, status, age or rank irrespective of that individuals merits (or vices):
I.e. irrespective of the behaviour of that particular manager, parent, woman, authority figure.
The false idea is that: now you are a manager who has attained a certain organisational status, you can demand respect from others as an obligation and a duty: Irrespective of your performance and character.
That is an error!
You cannot demand respect as an obligation or a duty, irrespective of your performance - and expect to get it.
Instead
You should strive to earn respect, as payment for your performance, in your role as a manager, parent, man, woman, authority figure - and then you can expect to get it.
How to earn respect as a manager
Strive to do the following things:
Believe in yourself as a manager.
Many new managers are promoted from within the team. So they go from being:
- One of the lads, to...
- One of the management team.
And the manager him (her)self cannot make the emotional leap and see themselves as a manager. They try to ride both horses at once: they try to be;
"One of the lads" AND "one of the management team".
But sometimes being "one of the lads" is too important. So that when a performance issue arises; one of the other lads is late for work three days running, the new manager cannot bring himself to tackle the issue for fear of upsetting his friend.
As a result of this he loses respect from all sides:
- The lads lose respect for him as a manager (if they ever had any in the first place).
- The existing management team lose respect for the new manager (because he failed his first test!)
- The new manager loses his self-respect because he now feels that he is in no-man's land: he is not quite one of the lads any longer and yet, not quite one of the management team either.
You must believe in yourself as a manager. The new manager must assume the new role of "manager".
You must be prepared, to a degree, to lose your "one of the lads" status.
Why? Because there will be performance issues that demand that you have to critique the performance of a friend. If you cannot or will not take on that role then you will not function as a manager.
Develop your technical skill and knowledge
You can earn respect by demonstrating that you know what you doing.
You cannot earn respect by demonstrating that you don't know what you doing.
Knowledge is power.
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The new managers who demonstrates that they know what they are doing, automatically begin to earn respect from those others who may, at first, have doubted the new manager's ability.
- Learn more!
- Study
- Observe and think.
Remember: Ignorance is not bliss: Knowledge is power.
Learn your business: and you will inevitably earn respect.
Treat other reasonably
At all times treat others as if they are:
- Intelligent beings
- Rational beings
- (Potentially) Productive beings
Don't ever make out, to others, that you think that they are stupid, irrational or lazy.
In order to get the best from others, treat them always, and demand from them that they are intelligent, rational and productive.
Intelligent means:
They think things through before they speak or act.
Rational means:
They act according to the plan, not their mood.
Productive means:
They are not just busy (active) but they are actually making progress towards the organisational goals.
In order for you to earn respect as a new manager do the following:
- Don't think that you can demand respect by virtue of the fact that you hold a certain post, position, or rank.
- You must believe in yourself as a manager.
- You must be prepared, to a degree, to lose your "one of the lads" status.
- Develop your technical skill and knowledge.
- Treat others reasonably.
- Think things through before you speak or act.
- Act according to the plan, not your mood.
Don't be just busy (active), but actually make progress towards your organisational goals.
Leadership Training - The Effective Leader Manager
As the team leader or manager, you know that, on the technical level, you are very good. In your role as an effective and inspirational leader-manager, you recognise that there may be some gaps. Now you are searching for a method to help you to improve your skills as a team-leader and manager - click here to find out more!
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