Interviews Americans
1- Government Employee- Senior Officer
Foreign Service is hierarchical but at the same time you can call your boss by the name. For example, in the previous office his boss was a friend of him for many years.
You don't call them by title. Only Doctor if it is a physician, whereas in Germany they have to be called by their titles. Especially in the academic settings, outside not.
Here, we don’t know anybody's titles.
Why in this country do we encourage casual relationships, at ease?
Even a military officer will try to look cool.
Overall, it reflects that the American culture has a democratic mindset, everybody is equal. More emphasis on your accomplishments, it is not about who your parents are.
Fortunes are still made today by “little people”
People who have 2 dry cleaners can be millionaires.
Example, his cousin sells farm equipment and owns 4 houses, and travels a lot.
He lives in New England where people value the little store and to get to know the owner.
We believe in setting informal tones.
Theoretically, we believe in people questioning their superiors. Like in Israel, but in Brazil a chef, a boss is treated with more reverence.
I had a boss that was more oppressive.
In his previous jobs, as a representative of the U.S. he had to speak up and present your ideas clearly.
As an individual you learn how to say things without offending other people.
At the present time, the government may look for people that don't agree with the President and may fire them.
The attitude underlying the American business or work practices are: “people have a brain” Go ahead, come up with a plan. Keep a comfortable distance. If they have trouble, the boss can step in and help to solve the problem.
When living there, he was able to see:
In the Army, in Pakistan, they don't expect even a sergeant to know what to do, but in the U.S., they have two responsibilities: train junior officers, and lieutenants. If the officer is wounded, the sergeant would need to take over, or someone even at a lower level would have to do it.
In our system, the sergeants are given authority to take over, and get things done.
In Asia, the “don't act so quickly” There is more consensus.
He has friends who are entrepreneurs. He sells various ornaments. And has the need to act quickly, when he sees the need to be done.
About change:
When he was the boss and he wanted to introduce change or guide in a certain way, he would say: “Here is what we will do.”
Sometimes “Let us see how we can do this better” Come and tell!
He also used to stop by offices. He followed the “Management by walking around” theory, from the book he read.
He would also encourage his employees by saying “show me” having a casual attitude, so as people would feel more comfortable. Is better than asking in a questioning way, it was a way to de-emphasize that the boss has the knowledge of all.
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Not everybody responds well to the same approach. Somebody needed more like a father.
“Everybody needs some kind of a different stimulus”
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Regarding authority, in an organization is all about balance.
---Short term vs long term:
In the private sector their focus is on having quarterly profits. They look to make a profit rather than looking at the situation long term.
At the public sector, there are also mechanisms to measure productivity, to make it tangible, such as number of publications, and other results.
2- International Educator-American
She manages an international school from Maryland. It is accredited. This is a fusion between a private school in Maryland and a homeschool. It is a type of homeschool, more customized for the learner.
People reach out to us include the Caribbean, South America. These are people whose goal is then to study in an American University. So they can learn about the culture and what it is expected. Because we are customized, every family has an advisor.
She, the manager has lived in many countries which gives her deeper understanding of different cultures. She is the one who does all the admissions.
Advisors seek to find out what makes the student happy. For example, in Korea, they would ask the student what makes you happy, not what your parents would like you to study. We train our advisors to get to the student’s inner essence, aspiration, form their individual desires, and not form the societal pressures. (Relationship collectivism-individualism).
At the school they promote forward thinking, breaking away from other’s pressures.
The U.S. was founded on individual rights. Whereas the Asian culture looks for consensus.
Once, when she was in Japan, a group of customers went to an ice-cream store. They all order cherry. “Cherry for all of us” It clearly prevails the consensus over the individual taste.
Here, not all of us would like to have the same experience.
Focus: to train their admissions officers to see what they want. The student. With the goal of how to be successful in the 21st century.
It started in 2005. Their school specialty is customized education.
Matching customized courses with their talents, what they like, which are their inherited talents, personal talents and strengths.
For example, an Asian student would take 4 courses in English and 1 in math.
Another student did an internship in an engineering company and continued successfully in that field and a college student.
It has concepts from the Montessori system, which has a specific pedagogy, whereas her high school in 1984 graduated hundreds and hundreds of students. Each one with a specific
curriculum.
The main difference of this program lies on the collaboration between the advisor and the student. The work together on the design of the program, then during the implementation. The student have to be accountable for what they learn and accomplish.
The advisors are facilitators.
Regulations for Homeschooling: In 1984 in the state of Maryland, homeschooling became legal by law.
Who are the students that attend this international school she manages?
Kids who are not thriving
Parents travel a lot
Since 1984, homeschool became legal, triggered by religious reasons, that are more insular or because of academic freedom. These 2 schools of thoughts have been the drivers for homeschooling.
From 2005/2007 they’ve started to introduce video conferences in the market. Beneficial indeed from the programs they run at school.
Huge homeschooling communities. They share creative projects:
Such as co-aps field trips, literature, and science.
“They can use the whole world as a classroom”
They also provide guidance to the parents as to the kids. They are able to discover the motivation of the kids, of the students. They work hard to find that out.
“In this way kids can make better informed decisions. Best wise choices.”
They make their people aware of their choices.
We make, facilitate the opportunity; we help them become aware and then they make the decision.
They encourage students to become leaders in their fields and lives. Though, most people are followers.
By identifying a leader, you foster the learning community.
They also make the student write a journal, from active engagement, where they write their thoughts and experiences. They have to reflect, to think about what they are learning.
The advisor is always there to assess and make corrections.
There is an advisor from K-12. There is an assessment every quarter. The advisor also oversees the program and listens to the student to create a “collaborative design” of the program.
Some advisors are more focused on high school and others prone to elementary school.
Some kids would need extra help in math and sometimes they could partner or work with Kumon, an organization that offers math programs for students.
Some other students focus more or are more interested in cooking and culture. So, they will customize the program towards their desires.
The key characteristics of this system are: flexibility and accountability. It is a fusion of homeschool and private school.
As far as she knows, no-one else is doing this program. In Germany, homeschooling is not legal.
In China, it is underground. In Korea, it was illegal, but now is legal. In the U.S. it is thriving. It is interesting that there are some many cultures within the country, that when she moved from Chicago to Maryland, Washington DC area, she suffered from culture show!
3- Accountant- audit American In terms of planning, they do it yearly.
She managed several auditing team (up to 5 to 6).
Also, they left free-way for situations when there were emergencies. When they were called and had to respond quickly.
The skills she valued the most in employees are: integrity and expertise in the job. When she did strictly accounting work, people were less prepared, but they had the opportunity and potential to be trained. They touch them skills for them to perform a better job. They’ve been able to acquire those necessary skills. The auditors were highly qualified.
Problems she faced while dealing with employees: too much time surfing on the internet. The way she solved the problem was by changing the disposition of computers so as when someone was walking by they could see what the employee was watching. Even though the employees were complaining, she did it anyway.
Another problem she had encountered while working as an accountant at the University in California was that junior employees would leave the office to go and pay for parking meters.
They would take too long to come back to work. She complained, convincing a few to adjust their behavior, the majority didn’t. She had to put up with it till the person would finish the short job and will train the next employee to be more responsible.
She ultimately quit that job to work for a more prestigious financial firm.
She was always guided to do what was the right thing. Her husband was the breadwinner so if she was fired she wouldn't worry so much. This beneficial situation had enabled her or
encouraged her or provided the support to always speak up, to be straight forward and demanding at work.
She always praises her father form India, who had a big job in India. He was the head of the most prestigious company there. Many small insurances companies had merged and formed the big
company that her father managed. He was an actuary. She admired her father’s strong work ethics that she then applied herself at work.
4- Public Sector- Senior Officer - American
In charge of a section in an Embassy. Not possible to do strategic planning because “not point in doing that” They had multiple bosses. The Ambassador is the main boss and they did whatever he wanted. He never asked for a strategic plan. He told them what he wanted them to do.
Program offices in Washington will have a schedule of programs or they will announce them to all posts worldwide and give the opportunity to participate and compete with them.
At post they never knew what the budget would be, because Congress gives only gives them the budget close to the end of fiscal year. When that happens to have to “subscribe” to the previous year or to a smaller percentage.
Just at the end of the fiscal year you will get months and months of money and will have to spend it in less than a month. Sometimes you can spend it in an activity and carry it over till next year, and sometimes, for other types of activities, that's not possible, the money can’t be carry over till the next fiscal year.
Once, he was informed just two weeks before the end of the fiscal year, which is on October 1st, that $80,000 were available for representation. He wanted to use it for the incoming Deputy Chief of Mission, who arrived on September 30th. But he would have had to throw the party the day the Deputy got off the plane, so his family didn't agree. So, the officer couldn’t spend it, neither buy wine and save it. So he had to give the money back to the Treasury Department.
They could have had a great party, but it was not possible to carry the money over to the next year.
There was another time, when there was money available for extra cultural programs. The woman announced at a meeting of Ambassador in Washington that it would be specifically for one post, for whoever called in first. The officer would have had to call following directions of the
Ambassador, but the Ambassador haven't been able to get involved at that time.
The officer said “you would think senior officials wouldn't run a global organization in this manner, but it happens.”
On conflicts that arise when working with other cultures
Sometimes employees didn't want to do what he asked them to do. For example, in the Czech Republic, it took a year to identify a particular candidate who was young and up-and-coming for a project.
The staff claimed that the Embassy had met them all, but that was not certain. As a manager, he kept on asking. He assumed his staff would know where to find them. He insisted they would check at universities.
It could happen as well that there is not collaboration within Americans. For example, for the International Visitors Grants program, each section has to select a few nominees and present it to the Public Diplomacy, which runs and funds this program. Grantees are all brought by Public Diplomacy.
All sections are supposed to bring in visitors.
They bring 12 people. The head of sections are expected to talk to their staff and select potential candidates, but they had procrastinated and had done it. They didn’t do it and the Deputy Chief of Mission had not enforced it either, at that time, falling into the public diplomacy section to select all the candidates.
In another circumstance, he disagrees to use funds to support a gay parade. Because once the embassy saw that there was a gay site linking to a porno site. So, for preventing any PR conflict, they thought it was better not to participate, but many people wanted, and finally they got involved.
About change: The section seemed to promote projects that appeal to the host country upper class.
Most of the events were about classical music, so he pushed to deal with other sectors. For example, they dealt with one leftist university where everyone could go for free. He faced resistance, but finally they achieved it. They also worked more with the software sector. They found donors to finance programs with the California Institute of Art and Ort University.
The program has been successful up to the point that has continued on with extra funding from the local government of a country in South America.
About skills the officer values the most in an employee: integrity. Also expected that they wouldn't make a big mistake in the press or favorite their friends by giving them access in the media.
Important as well is to be able to trust the employee. And that they wouldn’t do anything “stupid,”
not to abuse their position.
If he needs to choose between two similar candidates: one with higher integrity and the other more IT knowledgeable, he would make the decision depending on the job, in some cases the honesty may be compromised for a person with a strict technical job.
Also values a good listener.
Someone who can make contacts, because they can get things done for you, good with people, who has empathy.
Skills you dislike from employees: real snob, someone who just caters to the upper class of the country.
Which are the ways you find to give feedback: approve their projects and put them for awards.
5- Dance instructor
She had been teaching for 10 years at a Tango school
And then became a Business coaching in the last 3 years. Currently, she has the project of writing a book, based on the concepts of leadership and followership. The idea is to extrapolate the concepts from tango to the business field.
The concepts of followers imply: holding leaders accountable to prevent them from corruption
She had created a video for this educative training.
The leader needs to understand that they need to entice the followers by “inviting” them to follow their steps. Not coercively. Not commanding them. So, as they will not offer resistance, and they will be willing to cooperate, and get engaged with the proposed “dance” or projects.
This implies change in the way a leader conveys his/her vision and want the employees to incorporate them.
To lesser the level of resistance it is necessary to invest in loyalty and trust.
She has described the American business culture to be prominently a defensive one. Workers feel “they are in a survival mode” “Fight or Flight”
They have to watch carefully for their own interest. Maybe risky to help others when is not the organizational style.
According to hear if they understand that helping others is helpful and expected, they may be more incline to do it.
It will be beneficial to embrace the believe that in community is that we are safer.
If I feel I am safe and don’t help you
Speaking about Argentinian tango, she described as a subculture, with differences in the role gender plays. The “macho” is more domineering, obvious. It clearly shows awareness of gender differences.
As a dancer, is a passionate dance. She can find people all over the world who shares this passion.
The tango was developed in Argentina. It didn’t come with the British or any other group. It was a fusion including instruments and rhythms from different ethnic groups.
It was not a foreign imposition. Some people considered it was an inventive construct, an
economic business opportunity. In the thirties, many people were not into because they didn’t see the money the opportunity. The British and the French were attractive to it. After they had been interested in tango, many Argentines become more attractive to it.
For her is a social dance. She is not interested in it for its financial value.
In the United States, there were also dances that started as appealing the lower classes and then became attractive, more popular and accepted to the white affluent classes. This is a similar path that tango took.
She gave a brief history of the American types of dances and the Argentinian evolution of tango.
6- Interview the magician/entertainer
What about your audience how do they respond? I discover in real time bad woodbine's people is universal. we think we are all different with little distinctions in every single case but what we have in common is so much greater. the differences in the life spam development or child development so that he's related to the age stage in life. he focuses on the core on what unifies people adds cultural things for flavor. His shows also have a big IT and Technical display. he can be performing Now everywhere through different platforms. this is one of those Silver Linings in this crisis. as he puts it also differences in culture helps to see blind spots in our own culture that otherwise we wouldn't be able to realize.
a question he asked himself Isabella the risk environment.
China became successful one property rights were clarified that means that there is a risk of the environment was reduced and controlled. foreign investments we're not going to invest because there was not protection. after the property rights investment started to pour in more.
if someone can create an environment where they can take a calculated risk without putting everything on the line that would be great.
I take risky moves every day
If the climate, culture, context allows small risks to succeed then it builds up. then piece-by- piece one step at a time.
You also need to see a legal operating environment because if people see that businesses are taking over they would not want to take risks.
I made investments from my show to improve it I made money from offering summer camps and with that money I bought multiple screens which allowed me to be more successful and to reach out to more people.
also he keeps expensive really low so as to have more money to invest in his shows. he's more into saving. He is not into showing off about his house or car. No need to show off or portray himself as so successful but he prefers to gain money and invest for offering better shows and buying better equipment.
Some of his audiences are more gaudy. Want to make it more obvious how much money they have.
The American style is to spend a lot of money and show how much you make but he is more prone into delay gratification and saving for investing in his businesses. He believes in hedonic adaptation. is not vain adaptation. Who believes in the survival of the fittest. The Drawin’s concept.
He believes in a steady flow of gratification. Also realizes that when we get something our body adjust to it soon and it would not make us happy anymore so we want something else to be satisfied with. so he had this idea of step-by-step risk and also step-by-step to achieve
ratification his underlying believe is a constant state of improvement that is given by step by step.
This is not a positive or a half-full approach. He's aware that failure is constant. you risk and fail over and over again. the only way to succeed is to fail. it is essential to fail. many people are concerned about failing. He is not.
I want to take them out of what they know. if a light shines a few meters away of you you can drive 500 miles, and when you reach there you can keep on going.
He' is prone of writing an action plan with step by steps.
he considers important to train the brain the brain to observe what happens as we go forward.
the instant you write the plan that's the moment already needs to change writing the plan is like putting on your glasses so you can see and calculate what's next. it comprises assessing and risk assessment. and Innovation would would come from that from those assessments. how can you innovate if we frame it as a constant Danger? that is not encouraging. we need to ask do the numbers work or not. we need to train the brain to figure out choices.
It's like navigating and then adjusting to what we find on the way on the road in this way he does not perceive this journey as risks.
His approach focuses on coaching and managing emotions.
the mindset is a cultural element. I need the mindset is where emotions play a role. there are individual situations that need to be navigated. the emotions tell you where needs are met and where they are not.
We have to be incredible at where for needs and emotions. He aims and thinks managers could focus on solving people's problems in an affordable way.
Social psychology manifestes that if you want to be remembered, if you want to connect you need to share your own vulnerabilities. While sharing when your abilities is where these connections can happen. if you want to have a thriving collaboration the more you are
emotionally connected the more will work. it is wrong to perceive vulnerabilities as weaknesses.
Leaders should have emotional intelligence. The ones that show vulnerabilities are the most memorable and connected to. a boss is very distinct to a leader. if someone has vulnerabilities and connected, then people will choose that person as a leader. people we follow you when you have a strong connection. been there too few leaders and many copycats they use what they learn that works.
they are copying. they are going to lead. but when you make a decision you only have one third of the information and then you have to leap. if it fails I have to readjust. in many cases with bosses people weave for no because they have to but when there is a good leader, they all want you to succeed.
if you are emotionally connected to your people we will all succeed. the team will go the extra mile to present it on time with the team will run the marathon at those Key moments.
when you are emotionally connected you have loyal people people that are more fervent more passionate more inspired and more supportive.
That gives them the strength for getting across that critical inch at the end of the marathon.
it's like selling them are you in and they would say as hell yeah!
Low motivation: the point is are you are so concerned about the wrong things that they are not in the game when it's not a very good leader is what happens
emotional knowledge comes into play what judgment did that person have about me what judgment was made anger exists when someone made a judgment. a good leader has to create an emotional context where to recalibrate these differences. differences could be made because of culture because of age because of social status.
for the team, our objective is to produce things properly. which would be our secret weapon?
that's something that the leader has to find out and motivate connection is a key thing for that.
in this together. it is important to share valuable resources and collaborate tightly. all the other perish, when there's more competition.
she is currently streaming services providing magic shows all over the world and in many conferences for various companies he can reach out to three thousand people at the same time and he Ventured with another company so he can use their equipment and reach out to more conferences. Also, other magicians recommended him for shows when they are not available.
He provided me material on a course about happiness.
and he's approach is that he he's relationship is too advanced for problem solving sometimes it rain accompany people are not very connected and with his shows they could bond more and relax so he shows her a vehicle to boost morale 4 examples of companies could have problems in the moral or that this too competitive and with this type of activities and created a more friendly environment.
he likes to turn everything into action and he wants to show people that she cares about them so all these tricks and music and performances and glowing are to boost morale 2 raise their spirit.
he is very much driven by the lyrics of this song “this is the time” not to postpone it. we don't know what can happen tomorrow.
7- Government Employee- Public Sector – He has experience working overseas Public Sector- Analyst
Political culture characterized in AR by distrust.
The culture is a lot about showing off, though he agrees with the author Pablo Rosendo Gonzalez that education is key for citizens to achieve a good standard of living.
In the United States, the society is based on Meritocracy. Accompanied by other key components: social trust, stability, and predictability. Argentina lacks these 3 components, unfortunately.
With Kristina Fernandez there was a huge division. How can you have a mid-long-term developing strategy if they politicians cannot agree. The administration in place knocks down what the previous one did.
In AR there is no view. No clear goal.
Thy did had a vision in the 19th century. “They founding fathers had a dream that somehow became until the 1930’s. There was a surpluss in the economy and the standard of living was very high.
But other countries, such as Japan and Germany had been able to rebuild themselves after a major war, WWII, and their economy and standard of living is high again. They been
committed to recover and they did it, with American funds and other insititutions but they did it. Argentina received loans for millions of dollars, and haven’t been able to recover.
Peron alined with Germany during the war. Argentina at that time couldn’t continue exporting meet and cereals to Europe. That hampered AR economy.
The sales went down dramatically.
He made a funny joke: “God gave all the endowments to Argentina, and then to compensate gave them the Argentinians”
In Europe, each generation made it better, but in Argentina, each generation made it worst.
Mentioned that the thesis of Jacobson--a distinguished American officer who worked for decades for Latin American affairs—was based on the importance of institutions. She stated that in MX the root of all the problems is that there is no rule of law. “You need strong institutions” for a society to work.
The root for strong institutions is also link to education.
Unfortunately, in AR, es mucho de “zafar” get away with it.
It is easier to ripe apart than starting from scratch.
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US culture is towards achievement whereas the Argentinian is more towards the family.
8- Government Executive
The author discussed the questions from the survey and the respondent preferred to write them down and better expressed herself.
Retired Deputy Director, Office of Women’s Business Ownership, U.S. Small Business
Administration, held a number of position in the office including conference manager, manager of a mentoring program for women business owners, direct of the grants program (the Women’s Business Centers) and deputy director of the office.
1. As a manager in two very different non-profit organizations, one religious and the other a U.S. federal agency, my risk level was about a six. Although I had latitude in my positions to run and maintain both organizations, I did report to higher level
administrators. In the nursery school environment, the rabbi, synagogue board members and nursery school parents, plus teachers and students were vitally interested in the success of the school and decision-making risks had to accommodate the
recommendations and needs of those disparate entities. As a federal employee in charge of a grant program, I was required to follow the rules and regulations set out by Congress, plus take into consideration the goals of the Agency management team and the needs of the public. As deputy director managing the office staff, it was crucial to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the staff and find ways to bolster deficiencies and reward growth of each staff person. It’s important to note that as a federal employee, we were often required to respond to constituent requests given to us by members of Congress.
The letters we sent in reply, which had copies sent to the appropriate Congress person, had to go through an agency clearance process generally through the office of
upon the constituents’ requests. It was very important that the agency did not receive bad press and did not anger members of Congress and constituents. This could be a
cumbersome process, but there was also a sense of confidence that others with special expertise were checking our reply and in some instances making necessary changes.
Now, that doesn’t mean that some of the changes were totally irrelevant, but to receive that office’s approval, the changes were generally made.
2. In my various management positions, I feel that this numerical rating was directly related to the people to whom I reported. I was very fortunate to have bosses who placed a high premium on individual initiative; I would give it a nine rating. As a nursery school director, I was able to increase the enrollment from 30 to 130 during my tenure, giving me the opportunity to select outstanding teachers. As a federal manager, I had the latitude to offer training opportunities to employees to increase their skill and grade level.
This was critical in operating a grant program. Personally, I was very motivated to work my way up the federal grade ladder. My bosses encouraged my progression. One year I was selected for a year-long training program called the Executive Potential Program.
3. There is a definite hierarchy in the federal government, so I would rate this question a four. As a woman, I felt very fortunate to have started my federal career as a G.S..5 at age 42 and work up to a 15. However, more effort is needed to increase opportunities for women and minorities, both through training and advancement. In the business world there is a great need to break the proverbial glass ceiling. Since the time I was a federal employee, women owned businesses received only about 4 percent of government contracting opportunities and that hasn’t changed very much today. There are federal programs aimed at small and disadvantaged businesses, however a great deal of progress still needs to be made. Women also receive less financial assistance from banks and other lending institutions. One of the reasons is that women often open businesses in the service industries which require less start-up capital. And, it’s generally agreed that women have a greater fear of risk than their male counterparts.
4. No, I don’t think an individual’s status depends strictly on accomplishments; I would rate this a 6. I had much to learn when I entered the federal service which was different from my work as a teacher and nursery school director. However, there is one very important skill that is relevant to all positions and that is how well a person works with others.
Being a team player is crucial to success. This cannot be overrated. There were many people I worked with in the federal government, and I am pleased to say that most of them were competent and pleasant to work with from lower level personnel employees to staff in district offices and counterparts in other offices in the agency.
5. Different skills and backgrounds are extremely valuable in a work environment. We learn much from each other. A successful manager hires people who excel and exceed the skills of the manager. Also, a successful manager selects people with a wide range of backgrounds since each has much to teach and learn. At one time, the Office of Women’s Business Ownership hired a “welfare to work” employee. She had been homeless for awhile and required a great deal of supervision and training to adequately fulfill her
administrative assistant position. It took the help of the entire office to bolster her self- confidence and skills. This effort was ongoing as she would lapse into old habits of arriving late to work, etc. She was a very cheerful person and one of her responsibilities was answering the office phone which made her the first public contact to our office. We always received positive feedback from callers about her attitude and ability to steer the caller to the correct person. This may seem a very mundane responsibility, but a crucial one in a busy office.
6. This is a hard question to answer because it relates directly to the type of work involved.
In some instances it is necessary to rely on short-term decision making and other work effort requires long-term decision making. Working in the federal government is cyclical because every four years there is a new administration. Each new administration must be briefed on the programs of every office, and each incoming administration has different goals they hope to achieve. It requires staff members to be flexible and able to
communicate well with administration officials in determining the direction the office will take. Additionally, running a grant program that has many congressionally mandated objectives, often requires long-term and short-term decision making.
7. In my case, there were proscribed goals that needed to be met. For instance, each year a program announcement was issued; proposals received, reviewed and awarded. Congress stipulated an annual training in Washington for all grantees and SBA personnel; and our office initiated monthly conference calls with grantees and district SBA staff to discuss issues, best practices, etc. It was crucial that federal employees follow all rules and regulations while working cooperatively with the grantees. This question is very open- ended and I’m wondering if there is a need to mention perceived favoritism in an office or organization. I must state that it is very important for management to seek to make each employee feel ownership in their work projects and their value to the office.
8. Conflict is a given. We all come to decision making differently and issues arise that need to be worked out. Some issues are personal and private and need to be dealt with
individually, but in a generally cooperative environment, most work issues can be dealt with through full participation of staff. It was important to have regular staff meetings.
As our office was totally made up of women, food was regularly a part of the meetings.
Although, it was not a job requirement, we were fortunate to have great bakers in our group and hungry staff eager to try new sweets. I personally cheated and made Duncan Hines brownies when I had my turn, but then again, no one complained. Each year we held a one or two-day group session out of the office, or at least on a different floor with a conference room, as a team-building event. We often had motivational speakers, most of whom we knew in the field or were agency heads, and that was a bright spot each year.
Again, it is incumbent upon management to seek ways to make the work environment a pleasant and rewarding experience, especially since we all spent so many hours each day together.
9. First of all, no one is perfect. We ALL have flaws and can learn from one another. One
other see us. And I think that is important to think about. Managers need to think about the effect they have on staff. All of the directors of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership were political appointees. We did have one very controlling head of the office; however, she was amazing in many ways and it was a pleasure to work for her.
Her standards were very high, but we all learned much from her expertise. It’s very important to give workers autonomy to complete their assignments, however deadlines must be kept. Deadlines are very important in running a grant program. If a manager has a collegial relationship with the staff, it’s helpful to be hands-on and usually appreciated, but it’s also important to let staff take pride in their work products. Humor is always a plus, of course not at the expense of other workers.
10. There is ALWAYS room for improvement, in all areas of management. We can all learn new skills and ways of dealing with situations. One of the heads of the office was the daughter of a Congresswoman and she was the most motivational leader I had. When work problems were very difficult, she would always say that “this is fun, and we’re having it.” So, in essence, work is very much about attitude and a positive attitude toward work and employees is critical.
