Manpower

by Lincoln C. Andrews

Development of the Men's Powers.—How natural it is to be impatient with the man who is bungling his early efforts. How often the master grabs the thing and does it himself rather than wait for inexperienced hands to find the way. The parent says petulantly, "I'd rather do it myself than see John struggling with it." The boss cares more to have a certain thing done exactly as he would do it than he does for all the good that might come from the developed skill and resourcefulness of his men. Of course these are all wrong. Your way is not always the best way. One way is often as good as another, and improvements come out of the interested inventiveness of the worker. Your object is to get the best efforts of your men, and good work is not done in an atmosphere of humiliation and discouragement. You must avoid the natural display of temper at awkwardness and the cutting remarks which indicate that you think the man a hopeless idiot. If he really is that you have a different problem and should avoid wasting your time and that of the others in efforts to use him. You are developing men and their powers. The constructive and inventive instincts thrive in an atmosphere of encouragement, and opportunity to employ them keeps the worker cheerfully at his task. You get a double reward from this system of control—the satisfaction of seeing your subordinates grow in ability under your hands, and the satisfaction of increased output or accomplishment under your management.

Popularity.—Should a leader strive for "popularity" with his men? By all means, if he is man enough to win it on his merits, for it is a large element in establishing their loyalty. But it is very easy for the beginner to have the wrong idea as to how popularity is won. He must clearly understand that it is not gained through easy-going methods, overlooking faults and neglects, playing favorites, sympathy with growling and kicking about the way things have to be done, nor in any of those things which go to undermine discipline and morale. Such popularity is properly called cheap. It takes no manliness to get it, it has no value once you have it. Such leadership is worse than worthless, it does actual damage. It will be exposed for the sham it is by the first occasion for endurance, by the first thing that comes to test the real grit and ability of the group. Then one of two things must happen—failure, or some better man will jump out of the crowd, take the leadership from these weak hands, and lead the men through the emergency.

We have seen this illustrated often enough in the army, where authority has held in his peacetime position of leadership some weakling who faded into the ranks in the actual tests of service, while some strong quiet character stepped to the front and successfully assumed the responsibilities of leadership. It is the duty of all management to discover and remove these weak leaders. It is equally the duty of every leader to study himself and his methods, and to make sure that both of them display the qualities which will justify his holding the leadership and will give it such character as to make it proof against any emergency demands.

The popularity that counts, that makes men say they would follow so-and-so through anything, makes them brag about their chief and proud to serve under him, is founded on admiration for his real ability, confidence in his fairness and justice, and in the courage and strength of his character. He has won this popularity by being absolutely fair and square to all, by seeing that both privileges and extra hardships are equitably divided among his men, by holding everyone to a strict performance of duty, by reward of merit where due and recognition of delinquency where it exists, by avoiding anything like deceit or duplicity in his conduct of office, by never appearing to ignore any of his men as of no consequence in the group, by showing a sincere personal interest in the welfare of his men as individuals and above all by such use of his own head in planning and forethought as to save his men unnecessary work or trouble and yet increase their efficiency, thus making them realize that he really has the ability to lead them.

Appearance—As to Dignity.—The leader holds his position on the assumption that out of the whole group he is the best all-around man for the job. He must retain this reputation for excellence, and should add to it by further performance. First of all in appearance—in how he carries himself before his men. The nature of the work may determine the amount of dignity which must go with the office, but in every case there is a certain dignity which all men must find in their leaders to which they may instinctively give their respect. This is just about the amount of dignity that comes naturally from earnestness and sincerity of purpose. It is not a virtue to be assumed, a superficial garment to be put on for the work. It has nothing to do with haughtiness or stiffness—unless it be an assumed dignity which is often thus manifested. "It comes simply from seeing things in their right proportion—big things big, small things small," and really has more of humility than of pride. It forbids you to patronize your men, to appear to condescend to them in your dealings, and it does admit your sharing both their earnest concerns and their fun. Professor Hocking says "To make a quick transition from fun to business, and carry your men with you instantly, is the test of real dignity. The two opposites of dignity are permanent solemnity and permanent triviality." Both have a bad effect on humans.

As to Example.—Remember also in the matter of appearance that you are an example. Imitation is a great teacher—the sole teacher of our infancy, not to be despised in our manhood. Your men are going to be very much as you are—if you are really their leader. Your example of cheerfulness, promptness, loyalty to superiors, cleanliness, courtesy, energy and interest, will find response in that of the men. I have seen this carried to the extent of copying the cut of the hair, the angle of the hat and other personal peculiarities. The power of example is a potent force, and very useful in establishing loyalty.

An important example for you to give is one of earnestness of purpose and interest in the work. The accomplishment of the work must appear to be a vital matter to you. Listlessness and indifference on your part will be quickly reflected by the men, while they will equally respond to a reasonable amount of smartness and earnestness on your part. You can imagine the amount of earnestness we used to put into our English lessons at West Point where we had an old instructor who closed his eyes and dozed while each cadet recited. There was great keenness to get into his classes but it stopped there. You should appear to care so much for your work that you are indifferent to the little things that affect your own comfort. If the men see you taking advantage of your position to enjoy comforts denied to them it induces a state of mind that interferes with good work. A good example of this was the conduct of a captain of cavalry in the Philippines who, being required to conduct drill during the heat of the day, took up his position under the shade of a solitary tree on the plain and drilled his troop in a circle around him. That drill did not add much to the excellence of the troop or to their loyalty for the captain.

As to Ability.—Again you want to impress the men as being one who knows at once what is to be done in each case that arises, who makes quick decisions, and who carries through what he has undertaken, without changing his mind. We will discuss this more in detail later, enough here to say that by figuring out ahead of time all the details of a certain undertaking and carefully planning for it, you can carry it through with an apparent readiness of decision and resource that will be surprising; and a few such successes will establish your reputation as an able leader.

Knowledge of Details.—Your position presupposes that you know the work better than does any other man in the group. Generally speaking you should be able to do each man's part at least as well as the man, able to know when he is working to best advantage, able to recognize particularly good performance to commend it, able to correct improper methods and point the way to improvement. This superior knowledge gives you the self-confidence to appear before the men as their leader and to give them instructions and orders which you know are reasonable. The men instinctively feel and recognize this superiority, and naturally give it respect and obedience.

Of course no one man may reasonably claim to know everything, nor to be more skillful in every detail than certain specialists. This fact is frankly recognized by all the group, and is used to stir the pride of individuals in their particular superior performance, and also as a reason for expecting all to make suggestions for any improvements they may have thought out.