365QOD-Day139

"That is not what I need."-often thought of expression

When managing people we need to determine what the employee needs or better what we need.  It is often not what the company is willing to provide.

In the book, Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders, the author claims that all employee wishes could be reduced to the acronym RED.
R stands for the ROLE that the employee plays within the organization.
E stands for the ENVIRONMENT in which the employee finds themselves.
D stands for DESTINATION in which the employee wishes to move towards.

About sixteen years ago I had a meeting with a high level manager.  He wanted to promote me to an Engineer in a different part of the mill.  I wanted a higher position as an Engineering Manager.  I turned down the promotion.  He was very upset, turned red, and the most combative one hour of my life began.  Our verbal confrontation ended with him saying to me "young man... you know what you want BUT you might not get it".

A month later the same manager promoted me to the Engineering Manager position.  He said that my promotion was not up for discussion.

After a year of great performance he and I patched things up and worked well together.  One time I was in his office and he asked me why I, even though I was working on my doctorate and was a professor at a local university, stayed with the company.

My answer was:
I look at my job as having a four legged chair.
1. first leg is my position and my compensation(R)
2. second leg is the people I work with and projects I work on(E)
3. third leg is the company allowing me to pursue my doctorate(D)
4. fourth leg is the company allowing me to teach at night(E)

If any one of the legs gets broken, the chair starts to rock.  If a second leg becomes compromised, the chair falls and I have to look for another chair.  He said, "can you repeat that so that I can write it down?"


Today's question is:
"What are the four legs of your current job?"