Written by Kathy Fauble, M.Ed., Director, and Liz Swanson, Assistant Director, ICAHN Professional Education Services
The country was saddened last week to learn of the passing of Colin Powell who was a former Secretary of State, a four-star general, and lifelong public servant. I love this quote by General Powell, "Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."
When you first become a supervisor or manager, it is almost shocking the amount of time and mental energy you spend listening to and solving the problems of your team. Many of these problems have nothing to do with the work itself and everything to do with human relations. Human relationships are complicated and require skill and practice to navigate successfully. In our upcoming ICAHN Supervisory Success: Skills for New and Not-So-New Supervisors virtual series, we focus on the importance of relationship building, understanding personalities, generational differences, and making employees feel valued. A good team is a diverse team. You need those different personalities and perspectives, from risk takers to conservatives, and thinkers to talkers. Each person plays an important role on your team.
I encourage you to also spend time exploring your own personality type and generational perspective. By analyzing your own traits, you will be able to better communicate with your team members and succeed in solving workplace problems more efficiently. By seeking to understand each person's unique qualities, you will find out how different types of employees can bring about effective teamwork and paint a colorful office culture in which everyone thrives! Diversity in the workplace can be a driver for success!
Join us for our Supervisory Success series, which will be December 7, 14, and 21. All sessions will be recorded and available to you 24/7. To learn more and register, CLICK HERE
