Give you a company, see how you manage

Chapter 45 Forcing employees to "find their own way"

It is also a technique of "educating people" to let employees learn to "use their brains" and "think of ways" in actual work.Many managers always like to think of ways and ideas for their "subordinates", whether it is out of the psychology of "taking the lead" or just to show off their "superiority" that they are "better than others".Maybe you will say: "Didn't you tell us that Chairman Mao believes that being a leader means 'making ideas' and 'using cadres'?" That's right, that's what I said.But please allow me to be "hypocritical" with you - I said "make" an idea, not "take" an idea.

Don't underestimate the difference between the words, they have very different meanings - "to come up with" an idea means to "help" employees find a way, which means to "inspire" employees' ideas (is it better to do this? You may wish to think about it here, maybe it is also an idea? — In short, it is a tone of discussion); while "taking" an idea is to "find" a way and make a decision for the employee.There are almost no employees or anything to do here, and it is basically all your own "drama" (this matter is so settled! - not negotiable).I used to be such a manager who liked to "take" ideas for employees, and I was "deeply hurt".I consider myself to be a person with a fairly "quick brain", and I belong to the kind of master who "has a brainstorm and thinks about it".Therefore, whenever I explain my work to my subordinate employees, or when an employee encounters difficulties and finds me, I always “can’t help” to “confide” my own ideas, and always focus on all the details that I can think of. Make detailed "instructions" one by one.Therefore, when working with a "good leader" like me, the employees are always very relaxed, and because of this, I have a little "popularity" among the employees, which makes me feel a little "satisfied".

But over time, I discovered a serious problem—the number of times my subordinates asked me for advice was too frequent, and they almost completely lost the ability to "actively think", which made me tired of coping.After a period of observation and reflection, I finally figured out a truth - instead of directly "teaching" the method to the employees, it is better to "inspire" them to find the method by themselves.Since then, I have made a "consistent mind"—even if employees "screw up" certain things, I must force them to "find a way" and do things "actively" by themselves.And I gritted my teeth and prepared to be a "hands-off shopkeeper" for a period of time.Since then, whenever an employee came to me for a "trick", I always said to them: "I'm sorry, my mind is blank, and I really don't know what to do. But I believe you must be smarter than me, I will give you one night, and I believe you will be able to come up with ten solutions by tomorrow morning. The only thing I have to do is to pick one of these ten solutions and give it to you to implement." After a period of time, Through the experiment, my employees gradually got rid of their dependence on the leader, and when they encountered problems, they could use their own brains and find solutions.They themselves are very excited and have a sense of accomplishment.As their "self-feeling" gets better and better, they gradually become "high-spirited" and in good shape.

In this regard, I "see it in my eyes and be happy in my heart".Of course, they still have deficiencies of one kind or another in their work, but in order to maintain their "confidence", I always try my best to help them "correct" carefully, and do the work of "helping" by their side.Although my role has changed from a "protagonist" to a "supporting role", I don't feel "lost" at all - because suddenly I have changed from a "busy person" to a "idle person", and I am very happy to use this rare "leisure" to go Do more observation, more thinking, more "details" management.In fact, forcing employees to "find their own way" is also a technique of "educating people".And I have always believed that "educating people" is the unshirkable responsibility of managers, and it is an important task in itself.A manager who "doesn't want" to educate people and who "can't" educates people is definitely an "incompetent" manager.In fact, the reason why many of our managers don't want their subordinates to steal their "limelight" is because they have never enjoyed the joy of "educating people"—seeing the people they have cultivated through hard work shine on the "stage", so This kind of excitement and gratification is much greater than my own "brilliant" on the "stage".

(End of this chapter)