This may be a somewhat hard question to answer , I'm about to finish my 5 year apprenticeship, and I want to take a leadership position ASAP, but I'm conflicted if the Machiavellian route or being the people's person is better. Does being a good leader require selflessness?

barn3r · 2018-10-19T21:23:18+00:00

What trade are you in?

glenthedog · 2018-10-19T22:26:53+00:00

What local?

TheBrokenRuler · 2018-10-19T22:57:16+00:00

Por que no los dos? Why not both?

The best bosses I've ever had crafted a combination of dominant demanding and personable. I'm not saying it's easy, or that you'll figure it out immediately, but there's no reason you can't be an aggressive leader and liked by your subordinates. I'll give examples from my favorite bosses- the first was this grizzled old man- when I started trying my hand at basic mechanic's assistant work (I was 14 or so).

I fucked up, I spilled a full paint can on his freshly-paved driveway. I tried to fix it, some of it just got rubbed into the black asphalt though. So I went to him, told him I'd fucked up, and he looked me in the eye and reamed me out pretty good. Then he grabbed a pressure washer, showed me how to use it, and helped fix the rest of the mess as best we could. After the reprimand, and hearing me say I understood what I'd done, he went back to being a little chatty. Made me feel at ease again. As a 14-year-old, that was pretty significant. I was loyal to that guy from then on. Maybe more important than what he specifically did is how he intended to make me feel- I was sweating nervous, then chastised, then as I fixed my mistake he showed there were no hard feelings, just a learning experience. Never mentioned it again.

The second was a similar situation- whole crew fucked up a project, lost a full day's productivity. Boss came down fucking furious- but completely in control. His temper was controlled, but at a high boil. He found out exactly what happened, then made us do a drill, practicing the particular thing we'd fucked up. We did the same thing a dozen times, then when everybody was well-practiced, he said never do it again and left. Dude lost a significant amount of money that day (hydraulics are expensive) but we all learned from our mistakes and we all made sure never to fuck with him again

LunarTears0 · 2018-10-19T23:02:53+00:00

The guy above you is likely looking after costs. Show him (without putting it in his face) that you are always conscious of material costs, safety, and work being done quickly and efficiently. Show your coworkers what a good worker looks like, and your boss will see it, and be thankful of the material cost reduction. Let him know, through your work, not your words, that you don't need to be watched over. That will tell him that you are smart enough, and a hard enough worker, to lead the others when he isn't around. This is how I got all my promotions.

Dr_Van_Nosstrand · 2018-10-20T01:15:15+00:00

Being a good leader is something that requires a very long discussion. It's at best an impossible subject to sum up in a Reddit answer box. Here are some general guidelines:

You have to choose your bedrock management philosophy - people or process. In other words, do you think a process is what makes people successful or do you think a process is only as good as the people you have executing it?
Always treat your people well and demonstrate you have their back. People will go out of their way to do well for a boss who they believe has their back.
Never micromanage. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Great management is about making sure the work gets done, not doing the work yourself.
Lead at all times. No matter the situation, always let your people know that you have a plan, everything they are doing is part of a larger cause, and if they follow your plan they will be successful.
Always make your team believe is it you and them versus YOUR boss. that is the quickest way to build lasting loyalty. Make them believe your boss is the world's biggest fucking asshole and that together, you must overcome this imbecile. They'll work endlessly to help you.

UnbreakableFrame · 2018-10-20T01:53:00+00:00

A good leader doesn't need to threaten his followers. Here's why:

A good leader lays out VERY clear and achievable expectations.
A good leader teaches his followers how to achieve the goals laid out in those expectations.
A good leader motivates his team to WANT to achieve those goals.

You only have to be an asshole if you fail at any of the above or the employees in question don't belong in their role at all.

HaroldTFinch · 2018-10-19T23:50:27+00:00

Just do your job. You don't light up the world at year 5. You just get to the point of knowing what you are doing. Put your time in. With steamfitting you need to get closer to 7-10 before you are decent enough. Been there, done that

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