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Taking the Tiger Mom Approach to Mentoring: 5 Ground Rules To Grow Strong Employees

Guest post by: Irene Froehlich

Article Overview: In the society we live in today, so many people have low expectations of themselves and what they can achieve. With my team, I assume strength, not fragility; therefore, they learn to behave very differently.

Taking the Tiger Mom Approach to Mentoring: 5 Ground Rules To Grow Strong Employees

There has been a lot of press recently about the "Tiger Mom" method of tough parenting. As I read the reviews, it occurred to me that the parenting tactics used by Amy Chau resonate with me regarding my employee mentoring and management style. To me, the tiger-mother approach isn't related so much to ethnicity or even parenting, but more about a general philosophy: expect the best from your staff, and don't settle for anything less. I want each of my team members to feel empowered to make decisions with skills honed by repeated trials and successes, each time stretching them a little more beyond what they believe their limits are. Then when opportunities arise for leadership positions, they will be equipped to represent me and the company in a way we can all be proud of.

My 5 ground rules:

First, the words "Can't"... "Won't"... "Don't"... or any other words that indicate you have given up, are forbidden.

Our philosophy is, there is always a way to get around a problem, we just need to think harder or more creatively to find an acceptable solution. In addition, my staff is not allowed to come to me and ask "What should I do?" This demonstrates a complete lack of effort to examine the situation and determine possible solutions on their own before coming to me.

The appropriate way to ask for a decision is to thoughtfully consider several alternatives, be prepared to communicate what they believe is the best solution, and then present them to me for discussion and final decision. This allows me to see their thought processes and help adjust them if necessary, and most importantly: it helps me determine if they can be trusted in the future to make decisions on their own without my input.

Second, I only hire people who are better than I am in their area of expertise.

Therefore, if you have been hired and you produce shoddy work that I could have done better, then I can only assume two things. Either you are a) not capable of your job or b) not giving your very best effort. I think highly of each member of my team and I tell them that I depend on them to give better than their best, therefore this level of failure is not only disappointing to me but also beneath them.

Third, I highly value the process of TPMM. Think, Plan, Measure, Manage.

In order to achieve goals, we cannot simply meander down a path and hope to get positive results. Instead, all projects require a process of brainstorming ideas and creating a workable plan with measureable, specific milestones that demonstrate progress is being made. Once they have begun implementing the plan, they need to regularly measure their results. If the results are not indicating that we are staying on target, they need to manage the plan to be sure that we don't continue on the same path and yet expect different results.

Fourth, understand the big picture.

How does the project that you have been assigned fit into the overall goals of the company? If you don't know, you should probably find out! Without this knowledge, you cannot possibly give your manager what he or she is looking for.

Fifth, ask yourself how or what can I do better today than yesterday?

Even if it's a small thing, these things add up to big changes. Taking our company to the next level requires hard work, discipline, drive, creativity and intelligence. In the society we live in today, so many people have low expectations of themselves and what they can achieve. With my team, I assume strength, not fragility; therefore, they learn to behave very differently. My goal is to mentor them and give them the mental stamina and the tools they need to compete in a fierce healthcare IT marketplace.

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Article Tags: ground rules, management, mentoring
Referred by: http://www.thehitsdoctor.com/



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