Typically, no one is trained to be a supervisor. We all have to learn how to manage people on the fly after we are promoted into a management position. When learning to be a leader that others are happy to follow, it is helpful to keep in mind the things that past supervisors have done that you liked and those that you have not liked so you can use those experiences to guide your decisions as a supervisor. Here are six steps to follow to make sure that you become a good supervisor:
(1) Tame yourself – You have to begin by understanding your personality and taming it. If you are too quiet, you will need to work on becoming more outgoing and decisive. If you are too decisive, to the point where you scare people, you will need to work on toning yourself down. You want to become a thoughtful, considerate leader who knows where you are going and is able to communicate that properly to the team.
(2) Have a goal – If you don’t know where you are going, you will never arrive, and no one will be able to follow you. Your goal can be as simple as “providing every customer with the best service” or “no injuries, no deaths on the job” or “make a profit.”
(3) Have a “clear, simple message” – You must be able to convey your goal in a sound bite. People can understand and retain clear, simple messages. You have to be able to repeat the message at meetings, in newsletters and in general conversations. If your people know the message, they will be able to follow.
(4) Look and act like a leader – People have a much easier time following someone who looks as they should. Your clothes should be clean and pressed. Your shoes should be polished. You should walk with confidence.
(5) Be trustworthy – People won’t follow you if they don’t trust you. You must be ethical and honest at all times. People trust people who are clear about what they are doing. People don’t trust people who say one thing at a meeting, and then say or do something different outside of the meeting.
(6) Care about your people – You can’t supervise people if you don’t like them.You shouldn’t become best friends with your staff, but you should know them and know what their problems are.Because you care, you should attend their weddings, and the funerals of their close family members.Because you are their leader, you should not attend more personal functions, such as their birthday parties.You need to keep yourself concerned with your staff, but not intimately involved with them. If you are really not a “people person,” consider another, non-managerial position in your organization.
Ruth Haag (www.ManageLiving.com) is the President and CEO of Haag Environmental Company, a hazardous waste consulting firm. Ruth is also a business management consultant. She trains supervisors to identify their shortcomings and tame them, while creating management systems that focus on their employees rather than themselves. She is also the author of several books, including a four-book series on supervisory management which includes Taming Your Inner Supervisor, Day to Day Supervising, Hiring and Firing and Why Projects Fail. She and her partner, Bob Haag, host the weekly radio show Manage Living, which can be heard on-demand on her site.
Contributed by Ruth Haag of Haag Ennvironmental Company
The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology
Newsby Heather Cassell (San Francisco)
In May 2008, The Center for Work-Life Policy (CWLP), a New York-based research organization, released The Athena Factor report, an in-depth examination of women’s career paths in science, engineering, and technology (SET) companies. The research project, undertaken by 43 industry experts—dubbed the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force—included four online surveys, 28 focus groups in global cities, and one-on-one interviews conducted over a two-year period.
“This is the first look at women in SET in the private sector,” says Karen Sumberg, The Athena Factor co-author and CWLP Assistant Vice President of communications and projects. Studying women in science, engineering, and technology isn’t new. What is new, Sumberg says, is that this report is about women in real-life careers in these fields in Corporate America or globally, rather than academia.
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Managing Operational Risk in Today’s Environment
NewsWe invite you to discuss, with your industry peers, operational risk management practices and ways to quantify them through metrics. We will address how firms compare procedures and will share information on benchmarking.
The Workshop will include a panel discussing risks associated with 130/30 strategies, especially as it relates to 40-Act funds, and how to reduce risk on managing collateral, 3-way reconciliations and cash movements. We will address risk on subprime instruments as well. There will also be a panel on data, including discussion on data feeds, security set-ups, trading related data and audits/controls related to data. Other topics covered during this one day event on operational risk are ops risk function in an organization and Basel II capital requirements.
The Workshop registration fee includes full program, Workshop materials, continental breakfast, refreshment breaks, and lunch. All sessions are subject to change.
* $795 per registrant for AMF / SIFMA member firms
* $995 per registrant for non-member firms
For more Information and Registration
(Note: No refunds will be made for cancellations after July 14, 2008. All cancellation requests are subject to a $100 processing fee.)
The Search is On for Top Professional Women in London
Newsby Jane Lucken (London)
The annual Women in the City (WIC) Lunch & Awards celebrates the achievements of professional women working in London, Canary Wharf and Mayfair. This year’s event will be held on November 28, 2008, at which time the winner of the prestigious Woman of Achievement Award will be announced.
Nominations are now being accepted for the women working in any of the following categories: Accountancy, Alternative Investment, Financial Services, Insurance Services, Legal Services, Management Consultancy, Property & Facilities Management. The winner of each category will be announced on October 28th. Winners are selected from a short list made up of the Category Winners and are chosen based on demonstrable leadership skills, as well as their ability to develop women in their own teams, build and nurture networks and promote women’s progress within their sector and the wider business world.
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Voice of Experience: Marianne Brown, CEO of Omgeo LLC
Voices of Experienceby Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
A true pull-yourself-up-by-your bootstraps success story, Marianne Brown, CEO of Omgeo LLC, spoke with The Glass Hammer about her unusual path to the top and why she’s succeeding there.
A self-professed academic overachiever in high school, Ms. Brown described her university experience simply: “fun won out”. Since she was, in her own words, “debt adverse” and paying her own tuition, she left school temporarily to get a job and earn some money. That job with ADP Brokerage Services, initially as a clerk/secretary, was the beginning of her illustrious career in trade management services.
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Safe Horizon’s Junior Council heads to the Hamptons for the 3rd Annual Hamptons Party!
NewsSafe Horizon’s Junior Council hopes you will join them in the Hamptons for their 3rd Annual Hamptons Party – Beachfront Blues & BBQ on July 26th. The Hamptons Party draws a diverse group of young professionals to support Safe Horizon’s work moving victims of violence from crisis to confidence.
A weekend affair, this year’s Hamptons Party will include four unique events.
The Council will kick off the weekend with aWelcome Celebration on Friday, July 25th at local hot spot the Stephen Talkhouse to get an early start on the weekend’s festivities.
On Saturday, July 26th, guests will be invited to join the Council in the VIP tent at the Bridgehampton Polo from 4-6pm. Immediately following the match, transportation will be provided to the Beachfront Blues & BBQ Dinner.
The Beachfront Blues & BBQ Dinner will be held at a private residence in East Hampton where the celebrations will begin with cocktails at 7pm. At 8pm guests will enjoy a beachside BBQ dinner, live music and dancing under the stars while celebrating the work of the Council and Safe Horizon.
Following the dinner, guests will gather at ultra hip club DUNE Southampton for the Beachfront Blues & BBQ After Party where guests will enjoy more dancing to a deejay playing all of the latest music.
To Purchase Ticktes
To learn more about the Junior Council
For more information call 212.577.7749
Adventures in Trading
Intrepid Women SeriesContributed by Suzanne Bodlovic (Chicago)
I am deep in the woods, up high on a mountain. It is the dead of night. With a map, compass and a backpack full of gear, I am with my teammates and we are looking for our next checkpoint. We are lost and have been racing for the last 15 hours. We are still nowhere near the finish line. Tired, hungry and cold, with blisters on my feet, I am ready to quit. I tell myself to dig deep and find the inner strength to push through. Focus on good thoughts and ignore the negative – just make it to the finish line.
I am back at work on the trading floor, making markets for my own trading account in a pit full of sweaty men who are out for blood. The tension in the air is thick. I am mentally drained and my position is going against me. Even though people surround me, I am alone, and must rely on my mental strength to get me through the day.
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Rosalind Lockyer and the PARO Centre For Women’s Enterprise
Women and Philanthropyby Natalie Sabia (New York City)
PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise in Ontario, Canada is a not-for-profit organization that empowers women by guiding them toward their goal of business ownership. Founded in 1995, PARO—the name is derived from a Latin word meaning “I Am Ready”—focuses on addressing the challenges women face as entrepreneurs and primary caregivers. Rosalind Lockyer, the Founder and Executive Director of lives the organization’s motto every day.
“I have taken women’s studies, I have been a teacher and I’ve had my own business and I feel like women know what they want to achieve, but don’t always have the resources to go about it,” Lockyer said. She continued: “I was told I could do anything I wanted and that is true, but only up to a certain point. When I noticed that it became more difficult, I learned how to prioritize my goals to succeed and that’s what I want to teach other women how to do.”
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Highest Leaf Awards Expand to Chicago
NewsThe Women’s Venture Fund held their first Chicago-based Highest Leaf Award ceremony on July 9th at the offices of Goldman Sachs. The event awarded four exceptional women for their willingness to take risks, leverage resources and for their commitment to helping women succeed.
The Women’s Venture Fund was founded over a decade ago by Maria Otero and has since grown into one of the leading organizations in the New York metropolitan area. Since then, WVF has helped over 13,000 women meet the various needs of their growing businesses. WVF offers informational courses, financial support, and mentorship opportunities, and educates women on how to think like entrepreneurs, read financial statements, and develop HR, management and marketing skills. Read more
Women Hurt Worse by Economic Downturn?
NewsIn this bad economy, people are getting used to certain truths. Among them, gas prices are up, economic growth is down, and unemployment is on the rise. According to the newest statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for June 2008, the unemployment rate, which had been declining in recent months, held steady at 5.5% nationwide, while the economy as a whole lost 62,000 non-farm jobs, particularly in construction, manufacturing, and employment services. The financial sector, in light of continued multi-billion dollar write-downs of bad debt, has been increasingly vulnerable to another round of layoffs.
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Become a Good Supervisor in Six Steps
Expert Answers(1) Tame yourself – You have to begin by understanding your personality and taming it. If you are too quiet, you will need to work on becoming more outgoing and decisive. If you are too decisive, to the point where you scare people, you will need to work on toning yourself down. You want to become a thoughtful, considerate leader who knows where you are going and is able to communicate that properly to the team.
(2) Have a goal – If you don’t know where you are going, you will never arrive, and no one will be able to follow you. Your goal can be as simple as “providing every customer with the best service” or “no injuries, no deaths on the job” or “make a profit.”
(3) Have a “clear, simple message” – You must be able to convey your goal in a sound bite. People can understand and retain clear, simple messages. You have to be able to repeat the message at meetings, in newsletters and in general conversations. If your people know the message, they will be able to follow.
(4) Look and act like a leader – People have a much easier time following someone who looks as they should. Your clothes should be clean and pressed. Your shoes should be polished. You should walk with confidence.
(5) Be trustworthy – People won’t follow you if they don’t trust you. You must be ethical and honest at all times. People trust people who are clear about what they are doing. People don’t trust people who say one thing at a meeting, and then say or do something different outside of the meeting.
(6) Care about your people – You can’t supervise people if you don’t like them.You shouldn’t become best friends with your staff, but you should know them and know what their problems are.Because you care, you should attend their weddings, and the funerals of their close family members.Because you are their leader, you should not attend more personal functions, such as their birthday parties.You need to keep yourself concerned with your staff, but not intimately involved with them. If you are really not a “people person,” consider another, non-managerial position in your organization.
Ruth Haag (www.ManageLiving.com) is the President and CEO of Haag Environmental Company, a hazardous waste consulting firm. Ruth is also a business management consultant. She trains supervisors to identify their shortcomings and tame them, while creating management systems that focus on their employees rather than themselves. She is also the author of several books, including a four-book series on supervisory management which includes Taming Your Inner Supervisor, Day to Day Supervising, Hiring and Firing and Why Projects Fail. She and her partner, Bob Haag, host the weekly radio show Manage Living, which can be heard on-demand on her site.
Contributed by Ruth Haag of Haag Ennvironmental Company