Being a Boss

06/17/2010

Now is exactly when we most need to gather our inner grit, heart, compassion and flexibility in order to respond to situations with intention and possibility, rather than reacting from fear in a familiar and habitual manner.
Robin Levy and Constant Hine, Positive Change through Grit and Intention

A guru of the participative management camp, Douglas McGregor, in his classic book, The Human Side of Enterprise (New York: McGraw Hill, 1960), talks about the challenges of being a "friendly" boss:

"I believed that a leader could operate successfully as kind of an advisor to his organization. I thought I could avoid being a 'boss.' Unconsciously, I suspect, I hoped to duck the unpleasant necessity of making difficult decisions, of taking responsibility for one course of action among many uncertain alternatives, of making mistakes and taking the consequences. I thought that maybe I could operate so that everyone would like me, that 'good human relations' would eliminate all discord and disagreement.

"I couldn't have been more wrong. It took a couple of years, but I finally began to realize that a leader cannot avoid the exercise of authority any more than he can avoid responsibility for what happens to his organization."

A Tool Kit for Managers

Exchange has packaged six of its practical management resources into a single “Manager’s Tool Kit” and is offering the entire set at a 33% discount — separately these resources would cost $175, but we are offering the entire Manager’s Tool Kit for only $112. Resources in the kit include:

The Art of Leadership: Managing Early Childhood Organizations
Managing Money: A Center Director’s Guidebook
Beginnings Workshops Book #8 - Professionalism
250 Management Success Stories from Child Care Directors
Developing Capable, Creative Teachers CD Book
Leading People in Early Childhood Settings CD Book

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