My Management Journey and a Book
When I got started as a manager, I was clueless. I had no idea how to deal with people or how to motivate them. It was apparent early on that I was good at getting people angry and demotivating them, but that is counter to the point of managing people.
The problem was that I didn't have any resources available to me to help me navigate those early days of my career. Don't get me wrong I had a manager that did his best to guide me, but he could only teach me what he knew, and while successful to a point he was slowly losing touch with the new realities of the modern workforce.
Other managers thought they could take me under their wing and guide me, but again they were dealing from old paradigms or mistaken notions of how to manage people.
None of this is terrible. After all, it shaped me as a manager and as a person.
As I moved through my career, I kept observing what worked and what didn't. I tried different tactics. Some worked, and some were complete failures.
I also read a lot of books. What I found was there were a lot of people with a lot of good advice, but it took 300 pages to get at ten pages worth of value.
After 15 years of working in different supervisor and management positions, I decided I would try to put down in writing what my beliefs regarding the management of people were.
This project was not born out of a belief that I was a perfect manager or that I had all the answers, far from it.
I knew I didn't have a lot of answers. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I continue to make mistakes daily.
At times I still feel inadequate, stressed, and over-my-head. But I never give up. I continue to plod forward trying to improve my skills and become a better person.
At the end of the day that is the goal - to become a better version of myself. And it is a never-ending process.
I had two goals in writing my book. First, I wanted to challenge myself to put down in words what it was I believed about management and leadership.
Second, I wanted to create a short, concise, resource that was easily accessible to anyone struggling with managing people.
Let me tell you writing a book, even a short one like this, is difficult. But I found I enjoyed the process. To me, the re-write was even more enjoyable than the initial writing as I was able to go back and refine my ideas and clean up the context.
Releasing an original creation into the world is not an easy thing to do. It is a process of exposing yourself and your ideas to others. That is scary.
There will be critics of mine that I have worked with over the years that will see this as arrogance and ask, "What the hell does he know about managing people?"
Others will read my work and think it simplistic and ill-thought out.
None of that matters. I put down my honest feelings and beliefs and am proud of the work that I produced.
My first try at this was good, but I wasn't satisfied with the end product. I put it out there and sold a few copies, got it in my local library, and received some positive feedback.
Now I am releasing a new version of that original text. I have gone back through and cleaned up the grammar, context, and some of the disjointed thoughts.
I want as many people as possible to read my book. Not for any personal gain but because I think it can have a positive impact on how we manage people.
Still today I witness managers who do not appreciate their employees, who take people for granted, who have a command and do mentality.
The greatest resource any business has is its people. Without employees, no company would exist for long. No man is an island, and neither is any manager.
The short message of my book - treat your people with respect and dignity. As a Christian I try to follow the golden rule of Jesus Christ - "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them..." Matthew 7:12.
Though a very simple precept, it can be incredibly hard to do in life. But if we only try to treat others with the same respect, we would like to receive, and even if we are not always successful, we will produce more good fruit than rotten.
Be kind to your people. Treat them with dignity and respect. And always be true to yourself.
I hope my little book makes a small positive impact in this world and that it helps a few managers find peace in leading their people. I also hope it helps to bring peace and unity to the work environment of these managers.
Please check out my book at the following retailers - Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, or Kobo. If you purchase it, thank you. Please drop me a message at randytrelka@basicmanagementskills.com to tell me what you thought and also leave a review to let others know what you thought about it.
Also, please check out my blog at basicmanagementskills.com where I write about management and supervisory issues.
The problem was that I didn't have any resources available to me to help me navigate those early days of my career. Don't get me wrong I had a manager that did his best to guide me, but he could only teach me what he knew, and while successful to a point he was slowly losing touch with the new realities of the modern workforce.
Other managers thought they could take me under their wing and guide me, but again they were dealing from old paradigms or mistaken notions of how to manage people.
None of this is terrible. After all, it shaped me as a manager and as a person.
As I moved through my career, I kept observing what worked and what didn't. I tried different tactics. Some worked, and some were complete failures.
I also read a lot of books. What I found was there were a lot of people with a lot of good advice, but it took 300 pages to get at ten pages worth of value.
After 15 years of working in different supervisor and management positions, I decided I would try to put down in writing what my beliefs regarding the management of people were.
This project was not born out of a belief that I was a perfect manager or that I had all the answers, far from it.
I knew I didn't have a lot of answers. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I continue to make mistakes daily.
At times I still feel inadequate, stressed, and over-my-head. But I never give up. I continue to plod forward trying to improve my skills and become a better person.
At the end of the day that is the goal - to become a better version of myself. And it is a never-ending process.
I had two goals in writing my book. First, I wanted to challenge myself to put down in words what it was I believed about management and leadership.
Second, I wanted to create a short, concise, resource that was easily accessible to anyone struggling with managing people.
Let me tell you writing a book, even a short one like this, is difficult. But I found I enjoyed the process. To me, the re-write was even more enjoyable than the initial writing as I was able to go back and refine my ideas and clean up the context.
Releasing an original creation into the world is not an easy thing to do. It is a process of exposing yourself and your ideas to others. That is scary.
There will be critics of mine that I have worked with over the years that will see this as arrogance and ask, "What the hell does he know about managing people?"
Others will read my work and think it simplistic and ill-thought out.
None of that matters. I put down my honest feelings and beliefs and am proud of the work that I produced.
My first try at this was good, but I wasn't satisfied with the end product. I put it out there and sold a few copies, got it in my local library, and received some positive feedback.
Now I am releasing a new version of that original text. I have gone back through and cleaned up the grammar, context, and some of the disjointed thoughts.
I want as many people as possible to read my book. Not for any personal gain but because I think it can have a positive impact on how we manage people.
Still today I witness managers who do not appreciate their employees, who take people for granted, who have a command and do mentality.
The greatest resource any business has is its people. Without employees, no company would exist for long. No man is an island, and neither is any manager.
The short message of my book - treat your people with respect and dignity. As a Christian I try to follow the golden rule of Jesus Christ - "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them..." Matthew 7:12.
Though a very simple precept, it can be incredibly hard to do in life. But if we only try to treat others with the same respect, we would like to receive, and even if we are not always successful, we will produce more good fruit than rotten.
Be kind to your people. Treat them with dignity and respect. And always be true to yourself.
I hope my little book makes a small positive impact in this world and that it helps a few managers find peace in leading their people. I also hope it helps to bring peace and unity to the work environment of these managers.
Please check out my book at the following retailers - Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, or Kobo. If you purchase it, thank you. Please drop me a message at randytrelka@basicmanagementskills.com to tell me what you thought and also leave a review to let others know what you thought about it.
Also, please check out my blog at basicmanagementskills.com where I write about management and supervisory issues.
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