If I Were a Supervisor, I Would...

• Have a goal to become the best supervisor in my company.
• Read and study 30 minutes each day to improve myself and my supervisory skills.
• Become an expert at personal leadership.
• Select someone to succeed me and actively develop her for my position.
• Be an enthusiastic and passionate personal and corporate leader.
• Become an expert at interviewing and hiring people.
• Learn about personality to value differences and build better relationships.
• Learn how to coach people to become more effective and productive.
• Provide five times more positive recognition than negative feedback.
• Take regular actions to encourage and develop teamwork and feelings of importance and belonging.
• Model accountability in all my behaviors and actions.
• Risk more and ask for forgiveness more often.
• Tune up my work skills each year to maintain high effectiveness and productivity.
• Ask for feedback about my own performance and take actions to improve it.
• Seek win-win solutions to every problem or issue I face.
• Set business goals with employees that result in pride of achievement.
• Give people opportunities to learn and grow through delegation.
• Talk about the company’s and my department’s vision regularly.
• Set and communicate clear work-related expectations frequently.
• Teach people how to become master problem solvers.
• Model a balanced approach to work and life.
• See every person as possessing unlimited potential and greatness.
• Take time to personally know all about the people who work for me.
• Know all the goals of my employees and help them achieve them.
• Send a personalized card or note on special occasions like birthdays.
• Show appreciation (sometimes written) to every employee every day.
• Catch people doing the right things and praise them.
• Regularly find ways of making work fun.
• Use the company values to guide my work behaviors and attitudes (and my employees).
• Meet with each employee weekly with a helping attitude to review their accomplishments and review their prioritized work plan for the next week.
• Hold a 15-minute book study each week to encourage employee development.
• Visit an employee’s hospitalized spouse or child and send get well cards for other health challenges.
• Meet quarterly to dialogue about the progress made toward development goals.
• Encourage people to take weekly and monthly actions to achieve those goals.
• Never forget that my success is a result of the success of the people who work for me.

You should get at least a few good development ideas from this list. The next step—make it happen!