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Have you ever found yourself faced with decisions which seem to force you to choose between two right things?
For instance, a coworker may really need to talk to you about a problem in his or her life, but you don’t feel you should take company time for a lengthy conversation. Yet you don’t want to be uncaring or rude. I believe our first priority is to do our job well. That means you may have to cut off that conversation with the hurting person and make an appointment to talk at lunch or break or after work, because it’s not right to take company time for long personal conversations.
What about the particular dilemma mangers and supervisors face in being a demanding supervisor versus showing concern and care for those employees? Think of Jesus and his staff of twelve men. Do you think he was demanding of their time? I get the feeling that those men put in long hard days quite often.
Being a firm supervisor, insuring that the employees who work for you do their jobs right and put in a good day’s work is not contrary to Christian principles of love and kindness. As a Christian supervisor, your job is to make certain that your employees perform well and work hard for the company.
Of course, we cannot ask of others what we do not give ourselves. Whatever Jesus asked of his disciples in time and hard work, he did more than they did. As long as you role model hard work and dedication for your people, you have earned the right to demand that of them. Quite frankly, you will be doing your employees a favor to teach them the rightness of hard work, honesty and diligence.
Now, that responsibility may cause you to seem harsh at times. If you’re like me, I much prefer having people like me than not like me! However, your job description does not say, “Everyone must like you.” When you have an employee who resists working hard or doing the job right, and you as the supervisor insist on right work, that person is not likely to count you their best friend. Welcome to management and leadership; it goes with the territory.