Discerning Patterns and Choosing Change
Sometimes our biggest models in behavior are the worst ones, and if we are paying attention and can stop the patterns in our lives, we can learn who we don't want in be.
How many times have you spoken to a child and thought: "that was my mother's voice! I swore I'd never say THAT!"? You make a decision, then and there, never to do it again. But you do, probably a few more times before the lesson sinks in.
The best managers, leaders, and yes, parents, are the ones who have had those negative experiences and actively, intentionally choose to do things differently.
In this podcast, Mary Schaefer shares a couple of stories of bosses who gave bad advice, and couldn't see the value in treating everyone in the workplace with respect, no matter what their position. One was even convinced that if she interacted in a friendly way with people in the "lower" positions, she'd never get promoted.
In some ways we are definitely impacted by the people we surround ourselves with. At the same time, being friendly and respectful of everyone is our responsibility as human beings. Mary is one of the humans working to bring that word back into the workplace, and she knew when she heard that advice coming from her supervisor's mouth, that she must be true to herself if she wanted to look in the mirror and be okay with what she saw there.
What are you doing as a leader or manager that you learned from another leader or manager? Are those good lessons? Are you emulating the things you disliked about a manager or supervisor? Will you make the effort to do things differently, now that you recognize the patterns?
Mary Schaefer's passion for improving relationships among team members is demonstrated by the success she has had in increasing employee engagement, productivity, and efficiency with her clients.
Mary Schaefer, SHRM-CP, PHR loves helping people at work to get along better, enjoy their work more, develop, succeed and thrive. Visit her company website, Artemis Path, Inc. to learn more.
Please connect with her on LinkedIn to learn more about what she does to improve relationships among team members.