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1. You come to work grumpy Each day depends on your attitude when you walk in the door. If the moment your staff members see you in the morning, you are rude or give off a nega- tive attitude, it may affect their moods and result in low productivity or bad customer service. Make a mental choice the moment you wake up in the morning to be a posi- tive influence on your staff members. At the morning team meeting, assign someone to bring in inspirational thought or a humorous incident or joke to start the day off on a positive note. Do not complain about the day before or dwell on the traffic you dealt with during your commute. 2. You micromanage the staff Excessive attention to detail can hold back the growth and development of your business and your team members. Employees that are micromanaged feel frustrated, lose confidence, become timid and are discouraged. Attention to detail is a positive trait of any manager, but if you're correcting every little detail or do every- thing yourself, you'll hurt your perform- ance and that of the team. As an owner or a manager, you need to delegate, follow up without micromanag- ing and hold people accountable. Create a system in which your employees can keep you updated on the projects they've been assigned. This way, they don't feel you are micromanaging or taking over, but you are able to keep updated on the progress. 3. You are too "hands off" and don't hold employees accountable While micromanaging may not be a sound management strategy, it's also possi- ble to be too "hands off " with your staff members. Good leaders coach and mentor but don't micromanage or let things float along. You know the strengths and weak- nesses of your people. The days of dictatorial leadership are gone. Most employees today thrive on independence, growth and involvement. And yet they also thrive on feedback, accountability and firm, fair leadership. Finding a balance is crucial for the success of your business. I f you've ever been in a management position, there's a good chance you had several pet peeves regarding your staff members and their behavior. What you may not realize is that your employees probably have a few complaints themselves. It's true that oftentimes these complaints can be unreasonable and as a manager, you need to accept the fact that you can't always make everyone happy, but it's important to know what you can improve on as a leader. When your staff members respect you and the way you manage the team, it improves morale. When morale goes up, production goes up. How can you improve your management style to prevent your employees from agreeing with these frustrations? STARrinks.com 24 R INK MAGAZ INE march/april 2011 THINGS Your Staff Hates About You by Rhonda R. Savage, DDS 8 Get More Respect by Changing Bad Management Habits ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

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