Plate Spinning, Cat Herding and Scat Shoveling… Supervisor Survival Strategies
Who are we… Who: Tom Moffatt Who: Denise Robertson What: Park Supervisor What : District Interpreter, Education and Volunteer Program Manager Where: Three Rivers Park District Silverwood Where: National Park Service – Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks How: M. Ed Env. Leadership How: BA/S Studio Arts & Interpretation Why: Because I enjoy being a martyr By the seat of my pants and like to whine about how bad I have Why: Because it keeps me entertained it to people who cant argue with me because they are afraid I’ll fire them. How long: 16 years, 9 supervising How long: 26 years, 11 supervising
So what brings you into supervision today (aspiring/recovering) ? - What is your “worst/best” supervisor story? Turn to the person next to you and spill your guts! Chat for a few minutes. Report out - share Exchange business cards and contacts
Why do you need to prepare and how? We are all works in progress/experts
Already a Supervisor What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started down this path?
Why do you need to prepare and how?
Plate Spinning ▪ There’s No Such thing as Multi-Tasking ▪ Be Positive, but not fake ▪ Orbit the Hairball
There is NO SUCH THING as multitasking
Plate Spinning ▪ My mood… Teams mood…Everyone’s results ! ▪ Be Positive, but not a rainbow puking unicorn… ▪ Don’t take yourself too seriously; set the tone
Plate Spinning – to orbit the hairball ▪ Keep being creative ▪ Instill creativity in your team ▪ Orbit the bureaucracy and use it when needed, but don’t live by it. ▪ Find your own balance and way of doing business ▪ Pay attention to the care and feeding of the team – keep them out of the hairball.
What challenges keep you from keeping all the plates spinning? - Are you spinning the right plates? - How can you make sure you keep the right plates spinning? Find someone in the room that is about your height. Chat with them about these questions for a few minutes. Report out – share.
Cat Herding ▪ Understanding the Herd ▪ Herding UP ▪ Herding Yourself
Understand Your Herd Understand your own personality and style FIRST • Myers Briggs • 360 reviews • Kiersey Personality Sorter Not all the staff is going to react like you • Extravert • Introvert Take some time to figure out how and why they tend to interact and react the way they do. • Invest time…
Leading UP – The Art of Managing the Manager • There will come a time when you are leading the leader. Embrace it! • Build Relationships – edit out bad ideas with better ideas • Better relationships = better ideas moving forward
Herding Yourself Put first things first!
What are your herding challenges and techniques? Find someone who has the same color eyes as you and talk about the question for a couple minutes. Report out - share
Scat Shoveling ▪ Be a good listener ▪ Eat a healthy slice of “humble pie”, but never go back for seconds. ▪ Do the work along with EVERYONE else
Listen, no for reals! LISTEN ▪ SCARY STUFF – feedback from your staff, peers, supervisor. – What can I do more of? – What should I do less of? – What am I doing well? ▪ Through the scat… listen with the intent of HEARING the speaker, not to defend your perspective. ▪ Take action on suggestions
When IT hits the fan! and it’s gonna… Eat 1 slice of “humble pie” ▪ Admit your failures! ▪ What’s the WORST that can come of the error? Play that out… ▪ How can you ensure it will NEVER happen again ▪ Lessons Learned
Do the work WITH the team ▪ FILO: First in Last out ▪ Work along side the team – When it all goes sideways. You set the tone for how to move forward. ▪ Celebrate successes, often and timley ▪ Modeling Work/Homelife Balance
When and where did you see IT hit the fan? - Can you think of a time the people shoveled out successfully/or not. - What would you do differently if faced with this again? Find 2 other people who have similar shoes as yours. Chat for a few minutes about the question. Report out - share
Where do you turn for help? Podcasts: Email- Newsletters: • HBR – Harvard Business Review • Mind Tools IdeaCast 20 minutes • Winning at Work • The Look and Sound of Leadership • Leadership Strategies 10 minutes • Vital Smarts • Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast 20 • The Edge – By Peak minutes Performance Consulting Web: People: • MOOC’s -www.saylor.org • Other Supervisors • Humanmetrics.com • Search out a Mentor • HBR Articles • Learn from your “bad” bosses • NAI NCAD Facebook Forum
Denise_Robertson@nps.gov tmoffatt@threeriversparkdistrict.org
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