Things Will Be Different When I'm God

I've been in management for a LONG time.

15 of my 17 years in Radio were in a management position where I had to supervise, set policy, hire, fire, bend the rules, be the disciplinarian, and just basically keep things running. Radio is a brutal busines and if you're the boss, you're responsible for 154 straight hours of programming. Whatever's going on on-air, is your responsibility. Thus, you surround yourself with good people, earn their respect, and trust them to do good by you. I think I always did that.

Now, there always came the time when people left. Long ago, I decided upon a steadfast rule. If someone was leaving my employ, no matter how important they were to me, I was ALWAYS happy for them provided they were moving on to an opportunity that bettered themself and their situation. If there was a problem, then I expected them to come to me and try to work it out. Each and everyone that was moving forward in their career got a handshake or a hug, a big smile, and a heartfelt "good luck". Thus, I kept in touch with many of them, some to this day. I never spoke bad of any of them.

If you ever reach a management postion, I strongly suggest you adopt this policy. Your former employees will think much better of you in the long run and you'll be remembered as "a good guy". Consider the alternative.