Tips for first-time
supervisors
By Trudi Charest, RO
Unfortunately, like many businesses in the eye care
industry, I received no formal training or direction on
“how to be a manager.” I was given the title and off
I went, making mistake after mistake, until I realized
I needed to teach myself to be a better leader.
Here are 10 tips to being a great supervisor:
1. Make yourself a better leader.
Read a couple of books on leadership. My favourite
was the “One Minute Manager” by Ken Blanchard. It’s
an easy-to-read, short book that truly gives you some
high-level information on managing. The other book
I loved by Ken Blanchard was “Whale Done.” It’s the
story of training and redirection. It talks about the
right way and the wrong way to get people to do what
you need them to do.
30 Optical Prism | May 2019
Becoming a great supervisor takes effort. In some
cases, it takes learning about yourself and how
you handle daily tasks and issues, to how to direct
and manage a team of people. There is so much
information available on managing, including at
industry and leadership events, online courses and
books that you should never be short of resources to
build your own learning.
2. U
nderstand that friendship and management
are different.
It’s hard to remain everyone’s friend and give the
proper direction and sometimes discipline required to
be a good leader. That does not mean to say you are not
still friendly, it means you need to be a supervisor first.
3. Treat everyone the same.
It’s important when managing a team of people to
ensure there is no bias given to anyone. It needs to be
clear that everyone is in the same boat, rowing the
same direction with the same amount of effort.
I will never forget the day I became a manager. I was
excited and nervous at the same time and not entirely
sure what I was supposed to do.