Mistakes for Supervisors to Avoid

What kind of mistakes should a supervisor avoid?

There are all kinds of mistakes that you can benefit from, but also an endless number of mistakes that could put you out of business.

One kind of mistake is easily avoided: the mistake you've already made. At least, in theory. Shouldn't we learn the lesson the first time? Shouldn't we be able to re-direct our efforts and do it right? Maybe, but also it's possible that we will repeat the mistake -- again and again, until the lesson is truly learned.

Seriously, mistakes can be valuable learning lessons -- but only if we learn. If we do not learn from our mistakes we most likely get more opportunities in the form of mistakes until we do.

Making mistakes once is no guarantee against repeating them. It takes learning and change to avoid the obvious.

It can be helpful to learn from the mistakes of others. Think about the worst boss you've ever had. You wouldn't want to repeat that set of behaviors would you? But do you (sometimes)? I know that I have caught myself doing exactly what I know to be counter-productive -- only because it was so familiar that it seems easy.

What sorts of mistakes should supervisors avoid?

- Keeping your people in the dark.
- Going over people's heads repeatedly to get things done (this will come back to bite you)
- Yelling, harassing, or being a jerk. Seriously, don't do it.
- Breaking the law
- Hiring people based on your gut instincts.
- Thinking that the answer to every performance problem is "just work harder"
- Taking on too much without establishing clear priorities
- Failing to develop yourself AND your people

... and on and on. What mistakes would you add to the list?

Think about a mistake that you've only made once and were able to improve your performance as a result. What did you do differently? How did you leverage your mistake into a new opportunity?

What mistakes can you avoid today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Front Range Leadership

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