Cat Herding and Scat Shoveling Supervisor Survival Strategies Who - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Plate Spinning, Cat Herding and Scat Shoveling…

Supervisor Survival Strategies

Who are we…

Who: Tom Moffatt What: Park Supervisor Where: Three Rivers Park District Silverwood How: M. Ed Env. Leadership Why: Because I enjoy being a martyr and like to whine about how bad I have it to people who cant argue with me because they are afraid I’ll fire them. How long: 26 years, 11 supervising Who: Denise Robertson What: District Interpreter, Education and Volunteer Program Manager Where: National Park Service – Sequoia and

Kings Canyon National Parks

How: BA/S Studio Arts & Interpretation

By the seat of my pants

Why: Because it keeps me entertained How long: 16 years, 9 supervising

So what brings you into supervision today

(aspiring/recovering)?

• What is your “worst/best” supervisor

story?

Turn to the person next to you and spill your guts! Chat for a few minutes. Report out - share Exchange business cards and contacts

Why do you need to prepare and how? We are all works in progress/experts

Already a Supervisor

What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started down this path?

Why do you need to prepare and how?

Plate Spinning ▪ There’s No Such thing as Multi-Tasking ▪ Be Positive, but not fake ▪ Orbit the Hairball

There is NO SUCH THING as multitasking

Plate Spinning

▪ My mood… Teams mood…Everyone’s results! ▪ Be Positive, but not a rainbow puking unicorn… ▪ Don’t take yourself too seriously; set the tone

Plate Spinning – to orbit the hairball

▪ Keep being creative ▪ Instill creativity in your team ▪ Orbit the bureaucracy and use it when needed, but don’t live by it. ▪ Find your own balance and way

• f doing business

▪ Pay attention to the care and feeding of the team –keep them out of the hairball.

What challenges keep you from keeping all the plates spinning?

• Are you spinning the right plates?
• How can you make sure you keep the

right plates spinning?

Find someone in the room that is about your height. Chat with them about these questions for a few minutes. Report out – share.

Cat Herding

▪ Understanding the Herd ▪ Herding UP ▪ Herding Yourself

Understand Your Herd

Understand your own personality and style FIRST

• Myers Briggs
• 360 reviews
• Kiersey Personality Sorter

Not all the staff is going to react like you

• Extravert
• Introvert

Take some time to figure out how and why they tend to interact and react the way they do.

• Invest time…

Leading UP – The Art of Managing the Manager

• There will come a

time when you are leading the leader. Embrace it!

• Build Relationships

– edit out bad ideas with better ideas

• Better relationships

= better ideas moving forward

Herding Yourself

Put first things first!

What are your herding challenges and techniques?

Find someone who has the same color eyes as you and talk about the question for a couple minutes. Report out - share

Scat Shoveling ▪ Be a good listener ▪ Eat a healthy slice of “humble pie”, but never go back for seconds. ▪ Do the work along with EVERYONE else

Listen, no for reals! LISTEN

▪ SCARY STUFF –feedback from your staff, peers, supervisor.

– What can I do more of? – What should I do less of? – What am I doing well?

▪ Through the scat… listen with the

intent of HEARING the speaker, not to defend your perspective. ▪ Take action on suggestions

When IT hits the fan! and it’s gonna… Eat 1 slice of “humble pie”

▪ Admit your failures! ▪ What’s the WORST that can come of the error? Play that out… ▪ How can you ensure it will NEVER happen again ▪ Lessons Learned

Do the work WITH the team

▪ FILO: First in Last out ▪ Work along side the team

– When it all goes sideways. You set the tone for how to move forward.

▪ Celebrate successes, often and timley ▪ Modeling Work/Homelife Balance

When and where did you see IT hit the fan?

• Can you think of a time the people

shoveled out successfully/or not.

• What would you do differently if

faced with this again?

Find 2 other people who have similar shoes as yours. Chat for a few minutes about the question. Report out - share

Where do you turn for help?

Podcasts:

• HBR – Harvard Business Review

IdeaCast 20 minutes

• The Look and Sound of Leadership

10 minutes

• Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast 20

minutes Email- Newsletters:

• Mind Tools
• Winning at Work
• Leadership Strategies
• Vital Smarts
• The Edge – By Peak

Performance Consulting Web:

• MOOC’s-www.saylor.org
• Humanmetrics.com
• HBR Articles
• NAI NCAD Facebook Forum

People:

• Other Supervisors
• Search out a Mentor
• Learn from your “bad” bosses

Denise_Robertson@nps.gov tmoffatt@threeriversparkdistrict.org