Darn Good Management Advice Nov 05 2008

"And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don't forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master - God in heaven." - Colossians 4:1

God has high expectations for those in leadership roles. He demands that you treat your workers with "justice and fairness." Obviously, this scripture is referring to masters and slaves. While the concept of slavery is abhorrent to us today, God's idea of fairness in leadership is good. Here are a few ideas of how you can manage others in a way that helps you meet those expectations.

* Be sure your employees clearly understand your mission. They can't contribute to reaching your goal if they don't know where you are headed.

* The employee needs to be very clear on their responsibilities and expectations and how their role fits into the overall mission.

* Empower your employees so that they can actually accomplish the mission you have given them. Remember this formula: Responsibility = Authority. You are responsible for everything over which you have authority; likewise, you must have authority over everything for which you are responsible, while answering to your supervisor.

* If an employee is failing, make sure you have provided all the tools necessary to succeed.

* Hold them accountable, but focus that accountability on results rather than procedure. Focus on the goal, not the minutia.

* Publicly affirm your employees when they do things right; privately reprimand when they have fallen short. Be honest in your healthy evaluation, which helps employees be honest in self-evaluation. This way, the employees always know where they stand and how they are doing.

* Be sure those under you know that you care more about their success than your own.

Now, those are very basic things, but they can enhance the sense of justice and fairness in the workplace and will motivate your employees to help you all reach important goals. Most of all, remember we have to answer to God for how we lead those entrusted to us. (By the way, Jesus is the greatest example of this through servant leadership.)

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