The Unwritten Rules: Leadership in the Work Place

© 2014 Guy P Fehr, RPA, FMP. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/12/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1838-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1837-6 (e)

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Points Of Context

# 1.    Make No Changes For Six Months

# 2.    No Surprises For Your Boss

# 3.     Don’t Bite Red & Whites

#4.     Sleep On It

#5.     Show Your Calm

#6.     Beware Of Side Deals

# 7.     Establish Realistic Goals

#8.     Be The Leader

#9.     Work Your Attitude

#10.   Get To Know Your Teams

#11.    Be Accessible To Your Staff

#12.    Don’t Butt Heads With Culture

#13.    Don’t Solve Problems Yourself

#14.    Work With The Union

#15.    Check Your Ego At The Door

#16.    Don’t Take Things Personally

#17.    Assume Connections Exist

#18.    Place Trust First

#19.    Own Your Job

#20.    Forget The 40-Hour Work Week

Summary

About The Author

There are unwritten rules in every workplace that managers should keep in mind during their day to day activities. If these unwritten rules are not understood or ignored, the results can include low morale, high costs, unhappy clients, low productivity, haphazard work, poor teamwork, distrust, costly disfunction, excessive absenteeism and the list goes on.

From your first day as a manager and every day after, your effectiveness as a leader in the workplace hinges on your awareness of, and adherance to the unwritten rules. Managers unknowingly cause problems amongst their staff or defeat themselves everyday because they are either not aware of, or ignoring one or more of these unwritten rules.

The Unwritten Rules identifies some of the most common errors made by managers; issues not normally found in leadership development programs. Whether you are a seasoned manager or a new manager, if you are struggling with issues like those listed above; take heart, these are just symptoms that can be addressed. This book is for you!

I dedicate this book

to my two sons,

Garnet and Garrison.

Both natural leaders.

INTRODUCTION

There are unwritten rules in every workplace. You won’t find them in policy or procedure manuals or job descriptions, yet they directly impact the success and effectiveness of every manager or supervisor.

These unwritten rules exist in every company or organization; ways to think, things to do, or not to do, and things to watch for or be aware of. They are not spelled out however, so unless you are fortunate enough to have, or have had a savvy mentor, the unwritten rules are usually learned the hard way, after they have been broken or ignored. Unwritten rules will vary to some degree from company to company, and organization to organization, but those listed in this book are fairly consistent everywhere.

As a rule, managers are promoted or hired because it is thought they know or can do the job. But even with all the experience and know-how they might bring with them, these same managers often end up struggling with issues like a drop in productivity or an increase in absenteeism. Moral amongst the staff goes down and the number of grievances goes up. Communications become strained and the manager feels the pressure.

He will push himself, and likely others, in addressing these concerns when the truth is, these issues and many others are just symptoms of another ailment! As in the law of cause and effect, they are the effect, but not the cause. Without exception, they are a result; symptoms that one or more of these unwritten rules have not been, or are not being followed.

As manager, you can spend all kinds of time and energy dealing with the symptoms; or you can look for the cause. The best place to start looking is in the unwritten rules.

You might consider this book your personal pocket mentor. Having said that, you must also know there are literally thousands of volumes written on all aspects of leadership and management and the premises in this book just touch the surface of these powerful topics. However, if you are in a position where you influence or direct the actions of others, then you are in a leadership role and this book is for you.

The intent of this book is to assist you as a manager or supervisor, whether you are experienced or not, by pointing out the unwritten rules and their importance, thus enabling you to see things from a different perspective; and helping you avoid making the same kind of mistakes I have seen happen over and over again, and some I’ve made myself…

In the last forty years I have worked for mines, railroads, manufacturing, shipping, sales, warehousing, in hospitality and in tourism. I’ve worked as a human resource and in Human Resources. I’ve been trainee and trainer many times. I’ve worked in different areas of the private sector, different levels and branches of government, different shifts, different cities, and trust me, many different environments. I’ve been a laborer, a tradesman, a supervisor, a warehouseman, a salesman, a coordinator, a consultant, a manager, a director, and an owner.

The experience I draw on to write this book ranges from working midnight shifts as a laborer to overseeing the maintenance and operations of a five million square foot portfolio; from the teamwork of heavy labor to the teamwork of administration; from planning a shift to multi-year strategic planning; and working with people from all walks of life. I have experience in unionized and non-unionized environments; and have managed staff spread across different cities.

Now having a diverse background is certainly no claim to fame. I only share my background as a reference to the variety of people, professions, organizations and situations I have found myself in and in each scenario, I have seen these unwritten rules both applied and ignored, and seen the results of each approach. These are things that don’t show up in any company management manual, but they are every bit as important as managing a budget, following a schedule, or sticking to policy.

One can go to school on bad examples

What follows are those lessons I’ve learned from supervisors, managers, and coworkers