I had an interesting conversation last night with my sister-in-law, Amberly (check her out at AmberlyAndRyan.blogspot.com). We had just enjoyed a delicious meal and I was watching her clean up (remember – I’m lazy :)) and we started talking about motherhood. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on popping out a little Rubin anytime soon, but talking about the prospect of motherhood is a topic that comes up on a pretty regular basis when we’re hanging out.
It was during this conversation that I made a random comment that got me thinking. A parent is the ultimate manager. Think about it – as a parent, your ultimate job is to help set your child up for success. Good managers in business do the same thing. Now I know that a parent is much more important than a business manager, but I think the goals and skills of good parents and good managers are strikingly similar. To prove my point, here are 5 reasons why parents are the ultimate managers:
1. They Know How to Motivate
Good managers know how to motivate their staff to get the best performance out of them. They use a variety of tactics to help motivate their staff, including financial incentives, verbal encouragement, contests and even prizes from time to time.
Good parents use many of the same tactics to motivate their children. A $5 allowance is given to a child who makes his bed and walks the dog every week. A mother praises her little girl for practicing the piano. A father challenges his children to a contest of how quickly they can tidy their toys and a good report card might be rewarded with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. The tactics to motivate a staff in the workplace and to motivate a child are the exact same. The incentives are different, but the tactics are the same.
2. They Know When to Delegate
In business, as in life, there are too many daily tasks for one person to take care of. Those who try to handle everything on their own in either business or life are doomed to failure. That’s why good managers and good parents know how to delegate. They retain control of the big decisions, but they teach and instruct others how to take care of the smaller, every day tasks.
A manager might give the responsibility of pulling daily reports to one of his or her employees. A mother might turn over the task of feeding a pet to her 7 year old. In each situation, the child or employee learns something new and the parent or manager lessens the burdens on their plate.
3. They Let People Make Mistakes
An essential part of growth comes from making mistakes and learning from them. Good managers and good parents both give people the space to make those mistakes so that they can learn on their own. In business, great success rarely comes by following the norm. Big successes come when individuals take risks, try new things and push the boundaries. Good managers cultivate an environment where employees feel safe to take those risks and find those successes. Mistakes will inevitably be made along the way, but instead of penalizing an employee for a mistake, good managers find a way to help the employee learn from it and move forward.
Good parents do the same thing. A mother cannot live life for her daughter and a father cannot live it for a son. Good parents give their children enough freedom to try new things and make decisions for themselves. All children will make mistakes, but good parents, like good managers, use those mistakes as teaching moments.
4. They Set Boundaries
Even though mistakes are to be expected in business and in life, many mistakes can be avoided if the right boundaries are in place. The right boundaries leave enough room for growth and learning, but they help minimize the cost if and when a mistake is made. An example of this in business would be a manager telling an employee to develop an advertising plan. The manager is hoping that the employee will come up with something creative and unique that will get people excited about their company’s brand. To minimize the risk, the manager sets a budget of $10,o00. That budget is the boundary. The employee has the freedom to test things out and to learn new things, but if things don’t go according to plan, the cost is minimized.
A parent does the same thing. A father may let his 14 year old girl go to a movie with friends, but before she leaves, he’ll say, “No rated R movies, no drinking, no smoking, no riding in cars with boys and be home by 10 p.m.” This gives the daughter the freedom to make friends and improve her social skills, but sets some firm boundaries as well. The daughter may not always stick within the boundaries, but if they are there, she’ll be much less likely to make those big mistakes.
5. They Set People Up For Success
For a manager, when their employees look good, the manager looks good. People assume that if an employee makes a big sale or brings on a new client, that the manager also had a hand in the success. Even if the manager did not directly contribute to the win, they gave their employee enough freedom to go out there and make it happen. Good managers want their employees to succeed both for their own benefit and hopefully for the benefit of the employee as well.
While I am not a parent, I have been told that a child’s success is one of the greatest sources of pride for a parent. Good grades, a solid career, a happy marriage – those are all things that bring happiness and pride to a parent. When a child succeeds, a parent gets to share in that success because out of all the people in the world, a parent is the person who helps shape that child the most. A parent is the person who influences, guides, teaches and challenges their child.
So in that respect, parenting is like management amplified, which absolutely makes a parent the ultimate manager. What do you think – did I hit the nail on the head or am I way off base?
A Side Of Life 