Over the years I’ve learned quite a lot from being my toddler’s Dad. Here are some of the things I’ve been able to adopt and put into practice in my role as a leader and manager of technical people.
- Ask open-ended questions
- Asking a Yes/No question almost always will elicit a Yes or a No for answer.
- When you’re after the details, ask an open-ended question.
- Treat everyone differently
- Each of my children developed differently from all the others. Not all the rules and techniques could be applied equally.
- Your employees aren’t cookie-cutter either.
- Work is play
- When you’re a toddler, your job is to play. It’s also true that “in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.”1
- Why can’t we incorporate some play into our work tasks? Encourage it and help your employees make it possible. This doesn’t mean your employees won’t take their jobs seriously; it does mean that they’ll start bringing their whole person to work for you.
- Mary Poppins ↩
