Parenting and Managing a Business

Dear Readers,

I was in class today and my professor was comparing his life to managing a business. I noticed that I have both techniques that we are being taught Classical Management and Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Classical Management is when you are given rules and policies to work by and if you dont do them you get punished and if you do them you get rewarded.

Entrepreneurial Leadership is when you are inspired to do the work and take pride in doing your work.

While Kevan (my professor) was telling us about his relationship with his daughter (the main woman in his life,then his wife) I was thinking about my relationship with my parents. Then noticed why I have inherited both techniques. My father is a Classical Manager and my mother is a Entrepreneurial Leader. Both of these techniques work and because there is both in the family, each technique balances out each other.

My father would punish is if we got out of line and had a firm grip on us up till our older years. The punishments we a mixture of physical and verbal but they got the point out in the end. I approve of this method when the child is really disruptive and disorderly. But all the time could mentally and emotionally (which i think is still mentally) destroy the child in the long run. He also operates his business in the same manner, as a Classical Manager. So his staff is more afraid of him than being able to work along with him. This causes a high labour turnover.

My mother would inspire us to do what she wants. An example of this is whenever we asked for something like a toy on tv, her response was always "You don't want me too?" As a child you dont know how to respond to that and either drop it or keep on pondering for an answer. Then she would praise you in all kind of ways that makes you feel good about yourself. When you think about doing something bad you would then think about hurting her feelings. So you stay out of trouble. She operates her business in the same manner, as an Entrepreneurial Leader. Gets the work done, the staff feel at ease, and each staff member feels it is their responsibility to do thier best in the workplace. Some staff however take advantage of this and would steal or take time out of business time to do their own thing.

However, if the parent does only one technique then the child would respond to that parent like that. I have more fear of being punished by my dad and feel more alienated from him. While with my mom I am more open to her and can talk to her about almost anything (yes almost, the rest I tell my sister). On the other hand, my dad can just say jump and I would jump. While with my mom she would say jump and I would say right after I do this. My mother has noticed this as well and has in a few occasions turned to Classical Management to Deal with me (hell I deserved it).

If the manager does only one technique then they would react to that manager like that. Some staff members are afraid of being fired or a tongue lashing from my father and would do the work but not to the best of their ability. While with my mom her staff would do the work even when she goes shopping or out to do other business. On the other hand, my father has a tight reign over his business and knows what is happening at all time. While my mother is having problems with staff going up the road to do thier own things that should be done on their half-day or lunch break.

So, I think, as a Parent you should try and adapt both techniques to ensure that your children not only respect you but feel comfortable to talk to you about anything. As a business manager, you should also try and adapt both techniques to get the best quality from your staff and have control over your business. Take a look at your life and see what kind of parent and manager you would be, if you notice you are more of one technique you should practice some of the other technique to become more efficient!

OXXO

Mayeshah