Leadership

Parents Make Better Managers

By Nicole Solis

Updated on: August 20, 2007 / 5:58 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

In your darker moments as a manager, you might feel like your employees are like children. "The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About Building a Successful Business" takes the "businessperson as parent" conceit a step further.

Author Julie Lenzer Kirk identifies five qualities that can help you succeed in both business and parenting:

Resourcefulness
Perseverance
Patience
Passion
Vision

Although the book compares parenting with running a business, there are plenty of parallels between parenting and managing employees. Children look to parents for direction and encouragement, and they can more easily succeed when they thoroughly understand what's expected of them. Both parents and managers are more effective when they clearly communicate their expectations (setting up the child/employee for success) and are consistent when doling out rewards and punishments for exceptional or unacceptable behavior.

If you're uncomfortable with the parenting analogy, the same principles can apply to more management-friendly terms like mentors and role models.

(Wholesome Family Image by Library of Congress via pingnews, CC 2.0)