Supervising

Question: I just got handed the job of temporary admin team supervisor while they hire someone new—which will take several months. How do you step into a boss’s role knowing your authority is so wafer-thin and temporary?

“Here’s the dirty little secret about motivation you need to know,” writes Alain Hunkins in Cracking the Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders. “You can’t really motivate anyone else.”

Do you consider yourself an extrovert? An introvert? Do you think that an introvert can be a successful leader? The assumption is usually that leaders are more often extroverts—at least the successful ones. Recent research has suggested that introverts, with their higher capacity for empathy and thoughtfulness, actually make better leaders.

Leading change is difficult, and it calls for a specific set of strengths and skills from a manager. Focus on these key tasks to make substantive change happen.

Coaching is a cooperative process. You and the employee work together, but you take the lead in helping the employee learn how to improve and grow. Here are three strategies to remember.

Office conflicts don’t have to be destructive. For example, imagine that two employees disagree over the best way to complete a task or solve a problem, can’t resolve their quarrel, and dump it in your lap. To help these two get back to work quickly, try this approach.

Hiring the right person is a time-consuming process, and you don’t want to waste an interview on a candidate who’s not going to be a good fit for the job, or your organization. Bad hires aren’t always obvious, though. Here are some danger signs to watch out for as you consider candidates before and during the interview.

Let’s be honest: People love to talk about other people. They love to make everyone else think they’re in the know, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t change human nature. But there are times when you have to take a hard—and perhaps permanent—line with gossips.

When you ask employees questions, the way you ask influences not only the answers they give, but also your relationship with the employees afterward. It’s easy for a simple question to appear like an aggressive one to employees. Here are some examples.

Does your team really behave like a team? Over time, some teams develop cliques and grow distant—if not downright hostile—to outsiders and new members. If you want to keep your team productive and healthy, you have to keep the “in-crowd” from taking over. Here’s how to intervene.

If you point “human speed bumps” in the right direction, you can turn their pessimistic outlook into a strength.

Heading a committee or leading a project team is quite a job to begin with. When the group’s work gets heavy or complicated enough that you have to appoint subcommittees to handle specific areas or tasks, your job can become even tougher. These four tactics should help.