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What Every Manager Should Know About How to Help Their Employees Develop Self-Discipline
by Etienne A Gibbs, MSW
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You want your employees to do the right thing, especially when they are on their own. You want to believe in them, but somehow, you don't feel certain that they would.
Well, it's never too late to learn. Here are fourteen principles to set you on the right track:
1. Natural and logical consequences require children to be responsible for their own behavior.
2. Reward and punishment deny children the opportunity to make their own decisions and to be responsible for their own behavior.
3. Distinguish the differences between the punishment approach and the logical consequences approach to developing their self-discipline:
* Punishment expresses the power of authority; logical consequences express the impersonal reality of the social order.
* Punishment is rarely related to misbehavior; logical consequences are logically related to misbehavior.
* Punishment focuses on what is past; logical consequences are concerned with present and future behavior.
* Punishment tells children that they are bad; logical consequences imply no element of moral judgment.
* Punishment is associated with a threat, either open or concealed; logical consequences are based on good will, not on retaliation.
* Punishment demands obedience; logical consequences permit choices.
4. Natural consequences are those that permit children to learn from the natural order of the physical world.
5. Logical consequences are those that permit children to learn from the reality of the social order.
6. For consequences to be effective, children involved must see them as logical.
7. The purpose of using natural and logical consequences is to motivate children to make responsible decisions, not to force their submission.
8. Apply the logical consequences approach in the proper sequence:
* Provide choices and accept the child's decision while using a friendly tone of voice that communicates your good will.
* While following through, assure the child that he may try again later.
* If the misbehavior is repeated, extend the time that must elapse before he may try again.
9. Consequences are effective only if you do not use the hidden motives of winning and controlling.
10. Be both firm and kind when correcting employee' misbehavior. Firmness refers to your follow-through behavior; kindness refers to the manner in which you present them with choices.
11. Talk less, listen and act more. Lead them into the proper behavior by setting the example.
12. When you do things for your employees that they could do for themselves, you are robbing them of the opportunity for self-respect and responsibility.
13. Avoid fighting or quarreling with them; doing so only shows a lack of respect for the other person. Avoid giving in; it indicates disrespect for yourself.
14. Be patient! It takes time for natural and logical consequences to become effective.
Follow these principles and watch your relationship with your employees improve, their self-discipline increase, and, perhaps most importantly, your patience and love for them return.
Remember: When you maximize your potential and help others to maximize theirs, everyone wins. When you don't, we all lose.
© Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW
Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Management Consultant and Trainer, conducts lectures, seminars, webinars, and writes articles on his theme: "... helping you maximize your potential." For more information visit www.MaximizingYourPotential.blogspot.com, or email him at execandgroup-consulting@yahoo.com.
Article Source: www.businesshighlight.org
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