A new position, a separate office, your own staff of subordinates and the "halo" of the head above your proudly raised head ... All these privileged powers you have acquired recently, gaining a place in the administrative department and automatically adding to the number of the "chosen tower" of your company. But before you had time to move away from the weightless state of euphoria and headache from yesterday's celebration in honor of the increase, a fly in the ointment literally fell into a barrel of honey in the form of problems with subordinates who launched whole battles in the department, openly or secretly refusing to accept the identity of the new boss .
"Rebels" ignore orders, dispute information, hinting at its inaccuracy, criticize management methods, demonstrating their unwillingness to obey. At first, not all newly-minted leaders decided on punitive operations in the form of fines, dismissals, and breaking the windows of their subordinate's cars on a dark night (this, of course, is an exaggeration, but what the hell is not joking), and an invisible war drags on indefinitely. An undesired boss rushes for advice to more experienced colleagues or explores the bowels of the Internet in order to find a way how to subordinate subordinates and become a worthy leader. Consider what psychologists advise in such cases.
Thin line between a stick and a carrot
The very first and, perhaps, the main rule - whatever the management method, it should not harm either the employee or the work process. Regardless of how much you have read the literature on this topic, watched training videos, listened to conflicting advice from colleagues during lunch, your management style should not blindly copy instructions printed in books and voiced by experienced leaders. The psychology of managing people in your interpretation should carry individual imprints of nature, natural character traits, honed by the ability to control your emotions, and your own experience of the path traveled from the bottom to the top of the hierarchical ladder. Your attitude to subordinates should be exactly the same as you expected from your boss, sitting in the chair of an ordinary clerk. Try to find a middle ground between the evil picky bore, who refuses to squeeze out even the sound of praise, and the gentle guided boss who does not dare to express his displeasure.
"Veto" of the leader, or What should not be done
Before you find the desired answer and an effective method of how to subordinate subordinates to yourself, you should familiarize yourself with the list of prohibited actions, the violation of which will characterize you as an extremely unpleasant and ill-educated boss-tyrant:
- Transition to the individual. The analysis of personal, irrelevant qualities of an employee is a sure way to restore a team against yourself.
- Increased tone turning into a scream. Wild horror does not scare employees and does not force them to obey, moreover, by such behavior you will demonstrate your weakness and inability to restrain emotions, and therefore to manage.
- Regular self-praise and demonstration of self-worth. A boss who praises exclusively himself and does not miss the opportunity to brag about his successes, to show how significant his figure is for the company, will never be able to evoke respect and support from the team entrusted to him, and even more so admiration.
- Violation of business ethics and working hours by the right to be included in the number of "gentlemen". If the manager allows himself actions related to the category of those forbidden by him (in the form of endless telephone conversations with his passion, using headphones, sitting on the Internet, Skype not on business issues, having a snack in the department), subordinate employees will soon begin to take an example from him, quickly turning official bans into formal ones.
- Sluggish performance, disinterest in the result, lack of bright ideas and initiative. What is the boss, so are the employees. In any case, a leader who does not advocate for his own enterprise will infect people following him with his indifference.
Management Categories, Tricks, and Tricks
Despite its versatility, the practical psychology of managing people is divided into two categories:
- The path to success, sitting astride the neck of subordinates, or Receptions of an unfeeling leader.
- The path to success as a winner in the hands of subordinates, or Strength of inspiration.
The leader chooses the appropriate tactics - depending on personal qualities, personal experience and attitude to people in general.
The first category implies hidden control of a person: manipulation, fear, insult, guilt, resentment. Consider these methods in more detail.
Manipulation
Manipulation as a hidden control implies a clever, cunning, aimed at achieving one's own goals, impact on a person. In rare cases, ultimate goals are good, but manipulation, by its nature, is nothing more than an act of influencing people, imperceptible coercion to make unfavorable decisions. Its main difference from voluntary submission is that a person is simply not left with the choice to choose a path other than the imposed one.
In our case, the concept in question, depending on the nature of the leader, can be used to achieve their own selfish goals or for the good of the company. Management of subordinates by the principle of manipulation includes skillfully caused resentment, anger, fear, guilt.
Resentment, anger
An unflattering phrase about the business qualities of an employee thrown casually or directly by the head against the background of the widespread praise of another subordinate in 9 out of 10 cases achieves the goal, and all thanks to the inherent sense of competition. The stimulating statement looks something like this: “Petrov brilliantly coped with the task, but you can’t do that?” or “You’re not fit for Petrov!” or “You’re not capable of anything, but Petrov!” A cocktail of explosive feelings that overwhelmed an employee — anger, resentment, a desire to demonstrate his abilities and prove that he can and can do a lot too — pushes the person to perform a variety of tasks. Without thinking about the nature of their actions, a subordinate, without knowing it, contributes to the embodiment of the ideas of the boss.
Fear
It is impossible to accurately determine the nature of fear of superiors: it can be caused by the authority of a despot leader, the weak will of a subordinate, or intimidation in the form: “For disobedience and failure to fulfill assigned tasks - dismissal!” A couple of intimidations, which ended with the calculation of obstinate workers to confirm words, will have the desired effect: employees who value the place will go after the boss. Only in this case, the relationship between the leader and the subordinate will not be based on respect, dedication in the name of the enterprise, but on a banal fear of losing a job.
Guilt
Hidden management, based on guilt, includes methods in which the head announces the deprivation of all employees of the bonus department or vacation due to poor-quality work of one of them; or one employee is left without a bonus (vacation) due to insufficient zeal for the rest. The reception of pressure, based on guilt, is aimed at causing motivation to work better so as not to let others down.
The psychology of managing people, based on skillful provocation, is able to give the intended results, but is applicable in cases where a hidden effect is necessary for good purposes, and not for personal gain, using other people's forces and resources.
The second category of governance implies more loyal methods of gaining credibility, mutual benefit for both sides and active propaganda of a democratic policy of influence.
Positive influence
To become a good leader, you need to realize that your behavior, actions and relationships with subordinates directly affect the department’s microclimate, employee attitudes to work, and the effectiveness of tasks performed. The leader should be able to take responsibility, inspire his team, infect them with his enthusiasm, set an example and be an ideal for them. A great leader is not one who causes animal fear in subordinates, suppresses and provokes conflicts. A true leader is one who, knowing the psychology of each employee, his aspirations, values and desires, directs the flow of energy in the right direction. For him there are no “boss and subordinate” estates, he surrenders himself to work so much that he cannot but arouse admiration; he is loved, appreciated, respected by everyone and readily follows him.
Praise, flattery, encouragement
It is no secret that any person needs regular praise, encouragement and approval of their actions. The leader is precisely the one who can give what is desired to his subordinates. A well-deserved praise, a bonus system for the best employees, recognition of their achievements - an effective tool for building trust, respect for the team and its inspiration for even more brilliant results.
An effective management method is also advanced praise, when the boss expresses gratitude to the subordinate in advance, for example: “I decided to entrust this task to you, as soon as you can handle it.” An encouraged and grateful employee (or how about it: “The Chef considers me the best, and I just can’t let him down!”) Carries out the assignment with redoubled zeal and diligence. In this case, the boss, clearly understanding how to subordinate his subordinates, puts two birds with one stone on his shoulder blades: he achieves excellent performance of the task and increases the number of people devoted to him.
The art of inspiration
It is important to be able to guide many people with different goals, varying degrees of performance and skills on a single path. For this, each member of the team needs to find an individual approach, find out his aspirations and motives, and, based on this, develop motivation. After all, when the motives are clear, it’s easier to move forward, turning a disparate crowd into a strong, friendly, goal-oriented team. The leader must not only be able to inspire, but also maintain a fighting mood, go against the wind, fanning faith in indispensable success when involuntarily give up ... In addition, one of the boss’s great qualities is the ability to efficiently and quickly resolve quarrels between employees without damage for both sides. And a “leader-subordinate” conflict with a professional leader happens only once - at the very beginning of a managerial career, and that is not always the case.
Competence
Subordinates often pay attention to how competent their boss is in the area entrusted to him, whether he has the necessary knowledge and skills. You should be prepared for a thorough assessment, keen interest and a detailed analysis of your abilities on the part of your wards. Therefore, you just need to know almost everything about your activity, constantly improve and replenish your knowledge base. In the eyes of the team, the leader is the embodiment of perfection, genius and a bright, non-standard mind, otherwise how did he manage to achieve this position? You do not want to disappoint your employees, let alone feel like an unworthy leader, regularly turning to them for help in matters unfamiliar to you? Study, analyze and constantly study to become an ace in your field without putting your own responsibilities on employees, otherwise what is the meaning of the concepts of “leader” and “subordinate”?
Contact by name
Use the advice of the famous psychologist D. Carnegie, who claimed that the name is the sweetest sound for us. Appeal by name increases the significance of a person in their own eyes and causes confidence in the interlocutor. Call your subordinates not by their last name, nicknames, but strictly by their first name, and in no case should you confuse or distort it. This simplest technique guarantees you the location and respect of others.
Listening is also an art.
Learn to listen carefully to the interlocutor, while maintaining an expression of polite interest on your face, without a shadow of impatience or, even worse, indifference. In the event that you do not agree with his words, do not rush to interrupt the conversation with your arguments. Listen to the employee to the end, note the value of his opinion and only then express your vision of this issue. The ability to listen and take into account the opinions of subordinates will only raise your authority and gain the respect of the team.
Applying the methods and tips described above in your control model , you will understand how to subordinate subordinates to yourself, and possibly become one of the best leaders of our time.