iAspire To Prosper

Dictator? Ghost? Micromanager?  Best Friend?  Which management style are you most familiar with?  If you’re a manager, do you know which style you use?  Pros and cons exist for each – but whichever style you support, a direct impact – or influence – affects employees and their behaviors.  Research may vary in the number of manager styles…you’ll find anywhere from a couple to a dozen, but realistically, three (3) basic styles exist.

 First is the Persuasive manager.  Here we have the leader who basically believes that it’s “my way, or the highway”.  This leadership style may show a full-on dictatorial face or perhaps display a softer demeanor.  Either way, the premise of this style is to “tell” the employee what to do – with or without an explanation.  Outside of highly regulated industry, this style is pointed micromanagement and will leave the manager very, very tired because (s)he is doing the brain-processing.  While you’re definitely in control (and therefore responsible), the sta...

The world is changing; businesses are changing – and so are business relationships.  The “old way” of social interactions in business isn’t exactly gone - but it is mutating to fit present circumstances.  Some of that change is good, revitalizing – but not all.  Why is this?  Businesses – just like relationships – change naturally over time.  However, the change is usually a little more gradual than what we’re seeing now. 

We’ve all heard the adage:  adversity brings out the very best and the very worst in people.  Take for example, an ice cream shop in Massachusetts – having shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic, the owner decided to reopen “safely” on the Friday before Mother’s Day.  Gathering his best employees and donning masks, he opened his shop to a business’ dream…customers…lots of customers.  What started as a welcomed return to the community very quickly devolved into an outrageous nightmare.  Customers were yelling; customers became verbally abusive.  Over ice cream?  Serious...