Best Advice – Part 2
This is part 2 of answering the question, “What is your best advice when it comes to work.”
The list below is not exhaustive…just some of the principles I tried to follow as an employee and a manager. If you have any to add, please do so in the comments!
I have had some great bosses and co-workers through the years and I have learned something from most of them. So here is part 2, in no particular order.
KNOW THE NAMES OF YOUR EMPLOYEES CHILDREN. And ask about them. Encourage your employee to leave early to watch them play in their soccer game. The hour they miss at work is not as important as the hour they spend with their family.
YOU’RE THE BOSS FIRST. This means you can’t be best friends with your employees. You can be friendly and social but you are their boss and not their BFF. Trying to be both is a tightrope that will fail you.
CELEBRATE WHEN YOUR TEAM MEMBER MOVES ON. One of our most valuable employees left us after seven years to take a job teaching business classes at Liberty University. It was a blow to us, but more importantly it was a huge blessing to her and her family, and I was genuinely happy for her. And God sent us a wonderful new person to replace her. A good leader always wants what is best for their team members, even if it means losing them.
YOUR EMPLOYEES DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES, AND THAT’S OK. This is a hard one because sometimes when you have to make a tough decision, you can look bad but you can’t always explain the details. Especially when it is a personnel decision. There’s a small book written by Chuck Swindoll called “The Lonely Whine of the Top Dog.” Being the top dog IS lonely and only other top dogs understand.
GOSSIP IS CANCER. It is a fireable offense at The Bridge. If you have a problem with a person or with the organization, talk about it ONLY with someone who is above you on the organizational chart, and who can do something about it. Otherwise it is gossip and it can kill your organization.
MONEY FOLLOWS MINISTRY. Dad taught me this one. When running a church or a non-profit organization, focus on the ministry (mission) and people will want to help support it. If you focus on raising money, they won’t.
CASH IS KING. Budget for savings, rainy day fund and vision. Six months worth of reserves in case there is an unforeseen crisis (Covid, anyone?) and a reserve of cash to take advantage of opportunities that unexpectedly arise. You won’t have time to raise the funds, or even borrow them, in every situation. And debt can kill an organization.
ERR ON THE SIDE OF THE CUSTOMER. Rules are important but not as important as your customer. It’s nice to be right about a misunderstanding, but it’s nicer to let a customer win and retain their business.
READ. STUDY. LISTEN. And don’t just read, study and listen to people in your industry. The best ideas can come from other industries. Curiosity is a key component of being an interesting person and a good leader.
HIRE GREAT PEOPLE AND LET THEM DO THEIR JOBS. I could have done the job of just about everybody at The Bridge (with a few technical exceptions), but I couldn’t do it as good as them. But even if I could, it would be a disservice to them and to the organization for me to micromanage them. Responsibility without authority keeps everyone looking over their shoulder in fear and nothing good gets accomplished. When someone comes to me with a question, they know I am going to first ask them their opinion, and 99% of the time we are going with what they suggest. My team knew they had the authority to drill a hole in our boat. If the hole is above the water line, they could drill and then let me know about it. If it is below the water line (meaning it could sink us) they had to talk to me first.
RIGHT BUS. RIGHT SEAT. This is a lesson from the book Good to Great. It is important to have the right people on your bus. It is more important to have them in the right seat. A couple of years ago I had an employee who fit our culture, was a hard worker and capable, but she was struggling and unhappy. I determined she was in the wrong seat. And that was on me. I put her there. So we created a new position to take advantage of her gifts and skills. She excelled at the new job and we were all better for it. An organization can’t always create new seats on the bus, but having someone in the wrong seat is unfair to them and to the business.
GET OUT OF THE WAY WHEN IT IS TIME. This one is tough for a lot of people. Organizations go through seasons. Ours was a 13-year season of startup and growth, and that’s what I am built for. I felt we were entering a season of depth and excellence and change, and I was not the guy for that. The person who succeeded me is a better manager of things than I am, and for our organization to get to the next level, I needed to get out of the way.
And finally, IT’S NOT YOURS, YOU ARE JUST A STEWARD OF IT. Your work, whether it is a one-man band, or a large organization, is a gift from God and you have been entrusted with caring for it. Do your best, be grateful, nurture and grow it, and do it to fulfill your mission and to the glory of God.
That applies to every aspect of our lives.
