Water Well Journal

November 2015

Water Well Journal

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Editor's NOTE A speaker I heard recently discuss "command and control bosses" whisked me back to days when I worked for one early in my career. Or rather worked firmly under one. I've always used the words "yell and curse boss" instead of command and control to describe my former manager. I can still recall some of the beratings like they just reverberated off the office walls hours ago. I was in a department of four people. If one did something incorrectly, the other two were told by the boss to go outside and "take a smoke break." That meant the one remaining was about to get it. Boy, did I get it on occasion. We all did. It was part of the job. The verbal assaults didn't make me want to work harder, reflect on how I can be a better employee, or anything like that. It made me update my resume. I wasn't being stubborn; I was just another statistic. Surveys today show the top reason people leave a company isn't money, culture, or feeling undervalued. It's the big cheese—the boss. So what kind of leader are you? The most effective bosses lead with their head and their heart. They have the smarts, but they also show they care. Isn't it sad that seems cutting edge? Employees dedicate a large chunk of their days, weeks—heck, lives—to their company. Bosses should care about people doing that. If you're the boss, get out of your office and talk with your team. That means everyone—from the person you consider your right hand to the newcomer working the entry-level position. Be engaged. People who feel valued do their best work. Be approachable and bring out the productiveness in your team. You should want to do so anyway. Sometimes it's those entry-level folks taking the direct calls or poring through emails from your customers. Don't you want to know what intelligence they're gathering? I've known bosses who take different staff members to lunch each month. They work their way through the whole crew, getting to know everyone, finding out what makes them click, and what they think they can do for the firm. Others I have known have monthly meetings with a mix of different people at different levels in the company. Again, the goal is to have everyone getting to know each other in a casual setting so goals can be reached together. I recently heard of a company encouraging its staff to bring in family pictures so they can be put on a wall together. This means employees work with a collage of vacations, little league teams, dance recitals, and familiar faces looking back at them. Who wouldn't want to work hard for the person who signed off on that? Think that boss has it tough asking for Saturday help? By the way, the company doing that is the leader in its field—by a lot. Thad Plumley is the editor of WWJ and director of information products at the National Ground Water Association. He can be reached at tplumley@ngwa.org and on Twitter @WaterWellJournl. LEADERSHIP DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LOUD The Water Well Journal (ISSN #0043-1443) is published monthly by the National Ground Water Association, 601 Dempsey Rd., Westerville, OH 43081. Printed and mailed at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and additional mailing offices. Postal acceptance: Periodical (requester subscription circulation) postage paid at Westerville, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Water Well Journal, 601 Dempsey Rd., Westerville, OH 43081. Canada Post/ Publications Mail Agreement #40739533. Return address: 4960-2 Walker Rd., Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. Advancing the expertise of groundwater professionals and furthering groundwater awareness. Chief Executive Officer Kevin McCray, CAE kmccray@ngwa.org NGWA President Richard Thron, MGWC Director of Information Products/Editor Thad Plumley tplumley@ngwa.org Water Well Journal Editorial Review Board Art Becker, MGWC, CPG; Tom Christopherson; Dan Milan; Roger Renner, MGWC; John Schnieders, Ph.D., and Robert Sterrett, Ph.D. Senior Editor Mike Price mprice@ngwa.org Copyeditor Wayne Beatty wbeatty@ngwa.org Production and Design Janelle McClary jmcclary@ngwa.org Advertising Wanda Bloch wbloch@ngwa.org Vickie Crosby vcrosby@ngwa.org Shelby Fleck sfleck@ngwa.org Circulation Coordinator Carol Clark cclark@ngwa.org Contributing Writers Ed Butts, PE, CPI; Donald W. Gregory; William J. Lynott; Julie Hansen; Christine Reimer; Al Rickard, CAE; Ron Slee; Lana Straub; Jennifer Strawn; and Alexandra Walsh Editorial, Advertising, & Publishing Offices 601 Dempsey Rd., Westerville, OH 43081 (800) 551-7379 Fax: (614) 898-7786 Selected content from Water Well Journal is indexed on Ground Water On-Line™ at www.NGWA.org/gwonline © Copyright 2015 by the National Ground Water Association. All rights reserved. An APEX award winner 13 consecutive years with 27 total awards, most in the groundwater industry. 6 November 2015 WWJ waterwelljournal.com

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