Throughout my working life, I've had various jobs. When I was 21, my first job was at a chiropractor's office doing paper work and helping patients with their treatments. Next, I worked as a cashier and merchandise stocker at Office Depot for three years. Then I became a teacher's assistant at a special education school helping emotionally disturbed kids. A year later, I was a teacher's assistant for kids with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, bi-polar issues, etc. In total, I spent two years working with kids that had special needs. Then the big transition happened. When I was 27, I moved to South Korea in 2003 to teach English to elementary school students and middle school students at an academy. I did that for 15 months before realizing that it wasn't for me. Finally, I've taught adults at two English academies for the past 12 years. With all of this experience, I've had various managers and bosses and I have a pretty good sense of what separates a good manager or boss from a bad one. I've had good bosses, bad ones, and ones that were in between. I want to be fair and even include positive things I observed from bad bosses and negative things I saw in good bosses. So here's my TOP 10 list of what a manager should or shouldn't do:
1. Encourage your employees. If your employee is trying hard to do their best, focus more on what the employee is doing right and less on what the employee is doing wrong.
2. Motivate your employees to be better. If you see that the employee is doing a good job, but could do even better, let them know. However, do it in a way that shows that you have faith in their abilities.
3. Don't show favoritism. This is probably one of the worst things I've observed over the years. Don't nitpick certain employees to keep busy when they have free time while allowing the employees that you like (or happen to have the same nationality as you) to enjoy their free time. Favoritism destroys your credibility and destroys the morale at work.
4. Be fair. This is similar to #3. If you have a high standard for one employee, you should have a high standard for all of them. This shows that you truly care about the company as a whole and you are consistent in what you say. Your employees will respect you and trust you more if you are fair with everyone.
5. Don't micromanage. Focus on the big problems and not the tiny details. This will stress out your employees and stress yourself out as well. Don't sweat the small stuff.
6. A good boss doesn't always have to keep his "boss's cap" on. If you always keep your cap on, every time you walk into the workplace the mood will change, and not in a good way. It's a bad sign when your employees get along well with each other but as soon as you walk by there's an awkward silence.
7. Communicate with your employees. If it's important, tell your employee directly and even if it seems trivial, keep your employees in tune with what's going on in the company. Your employees will feel more open to telling you when there's a problem if you're open about everything as well.
8. Don't be fake. Don't ask your employee how their weekend was unless you really care. Don't be superficial and give them vague answers about your own weekend if I ask you. Just be yourself and be human. You're not a robot.
9. Don't be a hypocrite. If you expect employees to step up their game to help improve the company, you should also be doing the same.
10. Show that you care about your employees. Appreciate them and let them know that you admire their effort. Take them out for pizza or a beer for no reason. Most of all say "Thank you" when your employees do more than their fair share at work.
Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy
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