What is the best you can give to your subordinates? Somebody recently asked me this question. My answer was "support". As a manager or leader nothing else but the feeling of somebody who is standing by them can win the confidence of your subordinates. Anytime, you expose your subordinate in front of people higher in the hierarchy for any wrong reasons; understand that the confidence that sub ordinate had in you is diminished by a degree.
At many occasions, you might find that your subordinate has made a mistake; here our responsibility is not to expose him or her but to take the ownership of that mistake on our shoulders.
If a subordinate doesn't learn from his/her past mistakes it is utmost important that we understand the root cause behind that. We should exercise the last option of escalating the problem to our bosses only if we have tried all other resorts.
As a manager, you should not only be approachable but also be seen so. You should understand and empathize with your people's aspirations. And you should always be open for their opinions and ideas. Always remember that ‘managing people, projects and constraints’ is a continuous process that means you are always on a never-ending spree of reforming yourself.
