“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” –Harriet Braiker

Take a moment to ask yourself where you put your emphasis on – excellence or perfection.

Do you have an understanding of the difference between excellence and perfection?  Being clear around the differences will help you make better decisions for yourself and in managing employees.  Let’s first define the two words:

Perfection: the quality or state of being perfect: as freedom from fault or defect

Excellence – very good of its kind : eminently good

What is perfection?

Every manager at some time in their career experiences anger when interacting with people.  An employee challenges you, low performance levels or an incorrect decision made by an employee can stir up strong emotions.  There are many opportunities to react to employees with anger, yet does this reaction, if expressed, help the employee or you?

How would you evaluate your frustration or anger levels?   For some managers, anger is a chronic behavioral issue that influences their productivity and effectiveness of the team. In this case, it’s really more about the manager’s unhappiness in their role.

You have mounds of projects that fall under your responsibility with fewer people to help you move forward and do the work. It seems that each day your desk grows with additional never-ending paperwork. You job is not only the projects and paperwork…how about the increasing demands and issues from the people you manage. Where should you focus your energies?

Managing employees requires tenacity if you want to be effective in your role. You are required to manage the daily operations of the department as well as manage the people who handle the work. The balance between the two, and sometimes opposing functions of your role, is a constant battle. Here are some questions to ask:

You know that your employees are critical to your ability to produce results in the business. Yet, do you know what your employees can or want to do? Human capital is the knowledge, skills and abilities of each employee. It’s time to step back and learn what each employee can bring to the table.

Most managers find it easier to focus on managing the business and feel less confident around managing employees. Yet in order to handle your business you need to maximize the strengths that each employee can offer you in reaching your goals.

It’s a great question to ask yourself…”do you take what an employee does personally?”   People are complex and their reactions to workplace situations indicate this complexity.   People react to you because of their own beliefs, the atmosphere of the environment and your behavior.

What can you do as a manager…Get a Ph.D in Psychology?  No, try to keep it simple. 

How can you cut through the complexity of employee’s behaviors and create clear insights on how to handle their reactions?   Read the steps below to help guide you in handling the day-to-day employee situations.

Step One