In an article published yesterday by The Wall Street Journal, Joe Light make a point on a survey conducted by Development Dimensions International Inc. were most front line managers tend to overstate their skills. The interesting points they made were related to the way managers tend to be surrounded by employees who flatter them as a way of ingratiating themselves to their boss, said Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of the book "Power."
But then he also criticize manager in saying, "People also don't understand the feedback they get. They either mishear or choose not to hear criticism,".
I think, in order to be great managers, we must have people's skills that include great communication, good listeners, and an open mind that rewards creativity!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703817604575584764128883620.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_careerjournal
I am with you on this one. I don't like to be a "yes man." I also don't want my employees to be so either. I sit down with a couple of key employees that I trust and ask them to critique me occasionally. This isn't easy to hear sometimes. Also, it doesn't take much to cloud our judgment and allow us to make a wrong decision. Then we need to clean up the mess that has been created and possibly eat some humble pie. I've had a couple of big errors recently. Those I work with have been gracious in dealing with my errors, but I've certainly been knocked down a few notches in my self image.
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