17 Tips to be a Better Manager

1.  Always be honest.  Without honesty, everything you say is considered a lie.  When they ask, "how do you know he was lying", the answer shouldn't be, "his lips were moving"!

2.  Stop giving all the awesome perks to your favorites.  Management requires that you treat all your employees fairly.   Discrimination is illegal and favoritism plants seeds of disgruntlement.  Disgruntlement leads to anger and that can lead to someone going to prison.

3.  Don't be racist!  We're all related if you go back far enough.

4.  Don't gossip with your employees, about your employees.  They talk, everyone knows what you said.

5.  If you agree to something, follow through with the agreement.  See #1

6.  When you discipline someone for a problem, wipe the big grin off your face.  Most people who enjoy giving others pain are in prison.

7.  Sometimes employees need help.  The people you "fired" were crying out for help, not punishment.

8.  Don't begrudge people for taking their breaks and lunch hour.  It is time allowed by the company.  The time belongs to them not you!

9.  Give up the infallibility impersonation.  You are not the Pope and you are not God!

10.  Take a personality profile.  Discover who you really are and realize that we are all different.  Different people can all work together with each one's ability complementing the team effort.

11.  Learn the difference between employee and slave.  You have employees to supervise.  You do not have slaves to whip!

12.  Don't live in the state of denial.  If most your employees are leaving, requesting a leave, quitting, or being fired - it is you that needs correction, not them!

13.  A promotion to management by a friend doesn't necessarily mean you are qualified.  It may only mean you support his college football team.  Keep honing your skills, especially if the role is difficult for you.

14.  Let's be honest, there are dingbat customers out there.  There should be some loyalty to your employee, versus an angry customer.  Dismissing someone over a minor accusation in an impulsive manner, should never happen!  Also, if you survey most customers, your chances of locating the dingbat increases exponentially.

15.  You will ultimately have to use company tools/reports to grade employees.  Many of those are subjective and don't always paint a true picture.  Your views of people are self-fulfilling.  The opportunity is there to make the employee look as good or as bad as you desire.  Don't fall for that trap.  Clear your mind of past/present prejudice and be honest.  It is an employee's career which may be on the line.  Other people/families are always affected.

16.  The bonuses the company promises to pay you each year, do not give you the right to do anything wrong to obtain it!  It isn't worth losing your job over.

17.  Management is like life.  Every decision you make will be judged based on what is truly right and wrong.  The rewards of eternity are just not worth losing. Think before you act.  If the commands given to you from higher managers violate your conscience and God's laws, you have a decision.  "Choose you this day who you will serve" Joshua 24:15

In the book, Principled Centered Leadership, Steven Covey writes;  Principle-centered leaders are men and women of character who work with competence "on farms" with "seed and soil" on the basis of natural principles and build those principles into the center of their lives, into the center of their relationships with others, into the center of their agreements and contracts, into their management processes, and into their mission statements.  The challenge is to be a light, not a judge; to be a model, not a critic.