Mr. Black, Ms. Blue, and Mr. White Recently you were promoted from the job of first-level supervisor

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Question:

Mr. Black, Ms. Blue, and Mr. White Recently you were promoted from the job of first-level supervisor to that of middle management, and you now have under your supervision several of your former equals. You get along well with them, and there is no resentment about your advancement because they recognize that you are the best person available for the job. You know from past associations that you will have to straighten out three of these supervisors; the rest are all right.

The three are Black, Blue, and White. Black has always been against the organization, Blue has always been snowed under by work, and White has always been a permissive supervisor. Black, the anti-company supervisor, always sides with his employees against the organization and sympathizes with them when things go wrong. He wants conditions to be perfect and is always pointing out the defects in the company and finding fault with the way the organization is run. (Conditions, while not perfect, are above average.) Black does his job grudgingly and does not get along well with the other people in the organization. Blue, on the other hand, is snowed under by her work; she carries the whole load of the department on her shoulders. Her employees take no initiative, and she is continually correcting their mistakes.

Blue sees that whatever little work comes out of her section is letter-perfect even if she has to have her employees do their jobs over and over again and she has to put on the finishing touches herself. Often her subordinates are standing around waiting for her to get around to checking their work. They know their jobs but wait for Blue to make all the decisions. Finally, there is White, the permissive supervisor. Instead of running his employees, he is letting them run him. His employees do their jobs in any manner they wish. They do not respect White's authority, and they raise so many objections that he lets them do whatever they want. Often, they boast of how they tell him off. All the other supervisors under your jurisdiction are doing a good job. You would like to take the easy way out and fire Black, Blue, and White, but they have been with the company for quite a while. Besides, you feel that if you can solve these problems, you will receive quite a bit of recognition from upper management.

Questions

1) Identify the actions a new leader might take when promoted to a position where she/he is leading former colleagues.

2) How would you help Black become an effective supervisor?

3) How would you help Blue become an effective supervisor?

4) How would you help White become an effective supervisor?