Nancy

“The most important thing I have learned over the course of my career is that there is no one right way to supervise people. There are certain maxims that could comprise a pretty decent Supervising 101 course (always be kind; don’t take yourself too seriously; micromanagement kills incentive and enthusiasm; you get what you inspect, not what you expect; say thank you for even the little things), but you can and should create your own management style based on your own personality. Tap into your own gifts instead of trying to assume somebody else’s style.

Early in my career, I tried to be just like managers I’d enjoyed working for (and my dad, who gave me a tutorial in business over the dinner table each night for 18 years). One was an elegant older woman who’d worked for a railroad as a finance executive for decades. Another was a no-nonsense marketing manager who never made small talk. One beloved senior executive taught me how to read an annual report to gauge the health of a company, how to take control of a meeting, and how to navigate office politics. He trusted me with big projects at a ridiculously young age, like managing the construction of an office building in Atlanta. He passed on a lot of information, let me know he was there for advice, and trusted me to rise to the challenge.

Faking it until I could make it didn’t work for me. I could never quite pull off the sophisticated elegance of my first manager to dazzle my staff.  I didn’t have the heart or inclination to shut down non-work chatter like my second boss, nor did I have her take-no-prisoners aura. I did model my own management style on the EVP of Finance with the didactic style, and on the example of my father, a Ford executive for most of his career. My management style is big on giving specific notes about the big picture (as well as kind encouragement throughout the work process). When I started job-coaching young men and women several years ago, I gave them background information about the companies whose job leads I forwarded, and spent time affirming their strengths. Passing along information, doing extensive research, mastering subject matter, comes naturally to me.  Over the years, I learned to be authentically myself as a supervisor and as a coach.”

-Nancy