Following on from yesterday’s post, my wife has a simple way to see if the person she is dealing with is good or not.
If they always have a reason for why something didn’t happen, they’re not.
Sure, there may be occasions where what they are saying is true, but if this is their standard response to every failure – especially if they place the blame on others rather than taking any responsibility themselves [even though they’re ‘senior person’ involved] – then you can be pretty sure their inadequecy or laziness is going to cause you untold hours, weeks, months & years of pain and suffering.
If this happens, you really only have two courses of action:
1. Help them learn through the error of their ways.
2. Leave.
Of course it’s important to be sure you’re judging them fairly. We have a nasty habit of evaluating others by our own personal criteria – even when we don’t have the experience or credibility to really make an informed judgement.
But that aside, this simple test will help you work out whether you’re in a place of learning and challenge [which you should know anyway by the quality of work you help produce] or a home for bad management.
Use it carefully.
Thank you Jill.