“Search others for their virtues,
thyself for thy vices.”
- Benjamin Franklin

As a manager, it is easy to pigeonhole your employees. You
have seen them all in action – the leader, the workers, the
slackers, the confused, the wannabes, and the nobodies.
People will eventually play into the stereotypes that you have
created. Similarly, constantly reminding people of their bad
habits and crowing about how you might as well do it yourself
is not in the least effective.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of America,
was an accomplished diplomat and leader. He was an expert
at managing people and was even held in high esteem by the
French when he was American Minister to Paris. Since
Franklin’s time more than two centuries ago, the main reason
why people change jobs has remained the same.
People often leave good employment opportunities simply
because they dislike their immediate supervisor. Since turnover
is costly and unproductive, rethinking your expectations
as well as how you interact with your employees might
benefit everybody.

Start by considering each of your employees as a unique
person with the potential to become great at his or her job. If
you empathise with your employees, you will develop a
relationship of trust and understanding with them. You need
your employees to seek your counsel at the first sign of
trouble and not wait till the last minute when it has already
gotten out of hand.

Benjamin Franklin was aware that to better lead your people,
you need to source out their strengths and pin-point your own
weaknesses. Take a leaf from his book and who knows? You
might find your employees more inclined to maximise workplace
productivity and improve working relations with you.