[NA ] parents as manager

saracelica

saracelica

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saracelica
Okay. Are people that are parents better managers of employees then those that don't have children.

I don't have children and think managing another adult or adults would be challenging so I never went that track. My boss doesn't have kids and she keeps such a tight rein i'm glad she doesn't have children but then I thought it she did she'd be different.
 
Do employees have to be treated like children?
 
saracelica said:
Are people that are parents better managers of employees then those that don't have children.
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No, but...

Some of the same characteristics, skills, and viewpoints that make one a good parent can also help someone be a good manager.

Also, if the manager's employees are parents themselves, a manager who has kids of his own might be able to relate better and establish a more trusting relationship. I know this was the case with me and some of my employees.
 
Bob Noel said:
Do employees have to be treated like children?
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Do employees act like children? Sometimes!

I personally don't have kids, but have often been told that due to my management style and ability to deal with employees and situations I'd probably make a good parent.
 
Many executives need to be managed like children....
 
I don't think there's any correlation. I've had great managers that were terrible parents, great managers that were great parents, and terrible managers that were great parents, and I've known lousy managers that were also lousy parents. I don't think it's the same skill set, and it's absolutely a different level of involvement.

I'd say coach vs manager is a better comparison. Those skill sets are pretty close.
 
I have cats. I have found that when they misbehave, a little squirt from a spray bottle and they straighten right up.

The same works with employees. And friends, but not my wife...
 
Many people have different personalities, pressures, and priorities at home vs work. I have had coworkers that I don’t like at work be completely different when running into them outside the workplace and vice versa. I would not say that a persons home life translates to their management style.
 
I don't have kids... But I swear I have guys in the shop that should apply at underwriters laboratory. Things you wouldn't think could be broken end up FUBAR.

I used to be really bad and yet lately Ive noticed I'm more level headed when it comes to issues that pop up. Frequently it's the office people getting upset at the guys in the shop. The guys in the shop make me money and are not easily replaced. So it's best to not give them a hard time for stupid crap.

Now I say I'm getting better, but I'm also the guy that got thrown off a job last week. Apparently when someone starts yelling at you and your employee for doing your job that was scheduled days in advance and you walk away to try to calm the urge of throat punching them... They think you're giving them an attitude.
 
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saracelica said:
Okay. Are people that are parents better managers of employees then those that don't have children.

I don't have children and think managing another adult or adults would be challenging so I never went that track. My boss doesn't have kids and she keeps such a tight rein i'm glad she doesn't have children but then I thought it she did she'd be different.
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Hi “Sara”. Haven’t seen you here much lately. How have you seen?
 
Parenting is a very unique skillset. Looking at some of the youths of today indicates not many folks have theirs.
 
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Are those employees pilots? If so, then yes, the younger the children, the better.

(I say that as a Chief Pilot, so I’m joking……..kind of). :)
 
Turn it around...are people that are managers of employees better parents? I think both are skills that some people can develop quickly and others struggle. I had wonderful and horrible managers who were parents (I know nothing of their parenting skills) and I had wonderful and horrible managers who were childless. While one skill might support the other I don't think either indicates a high probability of success. As a manager and parent (came to both later in life than average for my field) I don't think one helped the other either way.

If I had to pick the two best managers I worked with directly, I'd name one I worked for who had children, and one who worked for me who had none.

Nauga,
who is done kidding
 
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Zeldman said:
I have cats. I have found that when they misbehave, a little squirt from a spray bottle and they straighten right up.

The same works with employees. And friends, but not my wife...
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A bag of M&Ms works great for the wife unit…
 
I'm not a parent. I was also not the worst manager, but not the best, either. I tended to be a little too hands-off, I think. Worked for some employees/grad students, not so well for others. The hands-off part is why it's probably a good thing I wasn't a parent.
 
A good (personnel) manager is a good leader - or at least an able leader. Leadership qualities are developed well before parenting age, and if they haven't been developed by then, they will doubtfully ever be.
 
Sac Arrow said:
A good (personnel) manager is a good leader - or at least an able leader. Leadership qualities are developed well before parenting age, and if they haven't been developed by then, they will doubtfully ever be.
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Yes and no. Great leadership requires both inate talent and acquired skills. Those skills can be acquired at any age; in fact, a good manager continues acquiring them throughout a career. Furthermore, I'd say that learned ability can make a person with a lesser amount of natural talent into an effective (if not gifted) leader.

I say that as someone who created and taught leadership courses for Lockheed Martin's chief engineers, so while it's just my opinion, it is an informed opinion.
 
judypilot said:
I'm not a parent. I was also not the worst manager, but not the best, either. I tended to be a little too hands-off, I think. Worked for some employees/grad students, not so well for others. The hands-off part is why it's probably a good thing I wasn't a parent.
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Hands on vs. hands off is a touchy thing. I am generally a hands off manager, but there are certain situations in which I need to interject myself in a hands on manner. And that is generally not appreciated.

I cut my teeth on managing people trained to kill other people (e.g. Army Infantry NCO or something like that) and I was... really good at it. But those skills didn't exactly transfer into the civilian engineering side. Don't get me wrong, I never expected my engineers to kill people, and in fact our charge is to generally not do that, but not everyone appreciated my management style. And that is confounded by the fact that my superior held a superior Army rank than I did, and I had to endure his management style. Those were not happy times.

I am a parent. I actually cannot correlate parenting skills with either engineering team management skills or sending my troops in to combat. Or, Himalayan call center dynamics. I can't tie them together.
 
I don’t think the two are closely enough related to be significant. I feel being a parent gives you a learning opportunity some who isn’t might not have, but that’s about all.

On the more esoteric subject of leadership, or parenting for that matter, I feel there is only ONE quality that is utterly paramount and required. And that is consistency. Without it the people you lead do not have a chance. They cannot and will not follow you. Without followership you cannot have leadership.

There are other qualities that improve the efficacy of your leadership, but that’s the trump card.
 
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