Manpower

by Lincoln C. Andrews

Proprietorship and Self-Expression.—Other strong instincts which the leader should take advantage of are those of proprietorship and of self-expression. To get the full benefit of his instinct to do his work well, the man should be made to feel that he has a personal interest in this job that he is doing, and that in actually doing it he is using his own skill, resourcefulness and inventiveness. So the leader watches for the chance, and drops a remark to show that he sees how well the man has done some step he has taken, and no harm if others overhear the remark! The leader is equally careful to speak of it as Smith's job, to praise the way Smith handled it, to commend the excellent condition of Smith's tools, and thus by rewarding Smith's little success and making it appear to be the result of his individual work on his own job with his own machine or tools, he encourages in all the feeling that each is doing his own work in his own way and will get credit accordingly.

It is also well to remember that these same constructive instincts in the men have another meaning for you as their leader. They will cause the men to resent it when they find themselves doing useless work, wasting energy and even approaching failure as a result of your poor judgment, hesitation in making decisions, and blundering through lack of forethought. This makes you see the necessity for knowing your job, and carefully preparing yourself to handle its details.

Knowing the Purpose of Work.—Human nature demands that before men can put their best efforts into work they must know the object of it. Purpose is the big guiding motive in all life, and we are so made that we seek for the purpose in all our efforts, and finding it and believing in it, we naturally give it our best endeavors. It is stated that one of the three greatest faults in handling labor to-day is the fact that the men do not know what they are doing, or why. Yet it is plain that a man must have some interest in his task before he can put much heart or intelligence into it. It is quite possible in assigning a task to make sure that the man understands the object of it, what part it is and its importance in the general work of the team. Then no matter how prosaic this part may be, as the man works he may build a mental picture of the completed whole, see his part fitting into it, and employ his constructive instincts in making his part perfect. Meanwhile, the necessity of thus clearly defining the object of the work to the man reacts advantageously on the leader. It requires him to have a clear conception of this object, and thus enables him to hew truer to the line in carrying on the work.

To illustrate the value of knowing why, imagine two men each for a different day carrying buckets of water from a stream to dump into a tank on a near hilltop. One knows that every drop of this water is precious for the necessary irrigation of a garden he can see beyond the hill; the other has no idea why the water is carried—someone may be trying to dry up the stream for all he knows. Not only would the former carry more water, but he would take more pleasure in his work and be trying to invent some means for increasing the amount transported; and when night came he would be far less tired. This illustrates a truth which applies to all human activities, and it is the leader's job to take advantage of it for the good effect it will have on his men and on the work to be accomplished.

In starting any new work, new undertaking, or new policy, the one most efficient thing to do is to assemble the whole group of men concerned and explain to them what you and they together are going to try to do; how they are organized for it, and the part each is to take; and finally such a picture of the whole to be accomplished as may serve as an inspiration, or at least appeal to their reason. Do not let it ever be said of your men that they are working in ignorance of what they are trying to do, and thus debarred from putting intelligent interest and co-operation into their respective parts.

Relationship Between Leader and Men.—The relationship which should exist between the leader and his men is a difficult thing to explain accurately. It depends largely on the leader's personality, and accordingly each must work this out for himself. This is almost always a matter of difficulty and embarrassment for beginners, who are apt to go to an unhappy extreme either in surrounding themselves with an atmosphere of isolation and autocracy or in showing too much familiarity and even frivolity. Let them first remember that the leader is not an autocrat or dictator, but the foremost of his companions. This position puts responsibility and authority in his hands, and a certain restraint on the perfect freedom of his relations with the others. He may still be called by his first name in perfect good fellowship; may be even affectionately nick-named; may and should be in relations of mutual and absolutely impartial friendship and confidence with his men; yet there must remain in reserve a something of superiority and true dignity which they recognize and which makes it natural for them to respect him and obey his instructions. He may be intimate, but must not be familiar. He should be courteous and thoughtful for their interests, but must never be patronizing.

You will notice if you take pains to observe, that a real gentleman or lady is always courteous to those in subordinate positions. The real superior has no anxiety about his prestige and is quietly at ease in dealing with subordinates. Those who bully them are thus showing that they have not had long experience in exercising authority. The true spirit of America believes in the dignity of labor. Our nation was built in the actual sweat of our forebears, who hewed the forests and tilled the soil with their own hands and did not attempt to enslave the labor of the natives as did the pioneers who colonized the countries further south. That spirit survives and makes it natural for us to respect those who do their parts well in whatever activity fortune has placed them. So the leader and his men, the employer and the laborer, are all companions in labor, and each shows respect for the ability and accomplishment of the other.

That is the spirit of the relationship between leader and men by which he is to regulate his conduct. You can see how this spirit is sure to be offended by anything like patronizing or exhibitions of either pompous authority or childish familiarity. Both men and leader are each entitled to the serious consideration of the other, and to respect in direct proportion to the ability each shows in performing his own part on the team; and each will be judged by this test. As an officer in one of the new war organizations put it to his men in explaining the spirit he sought in training, "We are all on the same team. It happens that I am in the pitcher's box now, but some day each one of us will have to come to the bat."

Reception of New Men.—The ultimate success of a new man joining an outfit depends of course on the real stuff that is in him. But much can be done to hasten this success. It has been the practice of the ages to haze the newcomer, and thus bring out this real stuff if it is there. But this is not approved in modern practice, which aims to get good results quicker through encouragement and by showing him how rather than baffing him on the head with a marlin spike for not knowing. Both schools of training have their adherents, and youth—excepting the hazee—is generally in favor of hazing. There is something to be said in favor of enough judicious hazing to remove any tendencies toward "freshness" which might interfere with the new man's progress, and enough to implant in him an appreciation of the seriousness of life where that is lacking. But the difficulty is to make the hazing judicious—to avoid overdoing it, or doing it where not needed.

So this becomes another care for the leader, who must see that each new man gets the right start if possible. You can be sure that most new men want to make good. Encourage them along that line and try to prevent the occurrence of anything which will switch them to the other track. To most of them an early exhibition of your friendly personal interest in how they are coming on will be a great help and incentive to better work. There will be many things that they do not understand, and some real or fancied troubles. This is your chance to establish a relation of confidence in which they form the habit of bringing these troubles to you for solution, instead of letting them rankle in their minds and act as deterrents to the good impulses for work. This gives you many opportunities for improving the group spirit and may some day be the means of clearing up real grievances which might otherwise lead to serious trouble.