HRGuru

Hi All,

What do you think?

I think that with the time a person who is getting seniority becomes a bit ego person. Sometime he/ she can have ego clash.

People who are new to seniority are often insecure with it, and that results in a puffed up ego.  Some of them never get over it, but fortunately, most do.  As you continue to have management position, and you get used to that cloak of respect, you start getting more generous about it.  My Dad brought me up to be less than my subordinates.  He was army, and he always told me, a good leader takes care of his men first.  And I learned that you get more out of your team if you treat them like a team of respected members, not your team of pack mules.  So, I sort of had an advantage by having had that training as I was growing up.  What people often forget (and bad managers make it easy to do so) is that managers are people, too, and they're really afraid sometimes that they don't really deserve the post.  Alot of that bluster hides fear.  That's part of why I like to do the work of helping them to understand how to relate to employees better. 

I do not agree.  It comes down to the individuals. I said individuals in plural because I am referring to both the employee with the seniority and the employee making the judgment.

Everyone has an ego. We just have to check it appropriately.

Hmmm.....I am going to go out on a limb here.  Yes, Vannati - agree seniority should not be taken for granted but there is also much value in people who have seniority.  Some become stuck in their rut of doing things the old way .  But I have known my fair share  who thrive in having as many opportunites to show their stuff through innovative thinking and mentoring to creat a vision of change making the impossible happen.  Li Ching's comment that everyone has an ego is right on .  It's important to have an ego and make contributions due to high self-assessment.  I liked her thought of keeping it in check.  I would not necessarily say performance should be given the same place as experience.  Some of the greatest ideas do not get recognized except by the receivers of these gifts.  Sarah's point about carving mutual respect between leaders and staff is critical.  I am thankful for the visionaries who have led organizations to do better based on their wealth of experience.  Their value if often understated.