There are obstacles on the way. Red arrow. Good luck and failure in business.

While many cleaning professionals relish the role of management — along with many up-and-comers yearning for the same tier of responsibility in the future — the high points of successfully leading a team or project also come with the caveats of elevated pressure and criticism. When mistakes happen on a macro-scale, it’s typically the manager that takes most of the brunt even if it was a lower-level employee that actual made the blunder. As it’s said, “heavy is the head that wears the crown.” 

Inevitably, those types of setbacks or criticisms are going to land at the desk of every manager once in a while. This reality makes the ability to bounce back from adversity that much more important. With that in mind, Lolly Daskal outlined actionable strategies managers can take to help get themselves back in the right frame of mind and managing effectively after a setback:

1. Acknowledge the situation. When tensions get high and deadlines loom, it can be easy to disregard the situation and convince oneself that it can be handled later. More often than not, however, sitting on the situation instead of taking action only makes things worse over time. 

2. Utilize a leadership coach.  Just because a manager coaches on the job doesn’t mean they could use a coach themself. Getting in touch with the right leadership coach can be an effective and healthy way to blow off steam without offending co-workers, and walk through the root of many sources of stress at work. 

3. Stay true to your schedule. When it becomes obvious that tweaks to the daily routine are needed, just saying those changes will happen often isn’t enough. By mapping out an actual schedule and following it to a tee, adjustments that initial seem abnormal become second nature over time. 

4. Get an accountability partner. Especially as a manger, it can be difficult to get true feedback or accountability from those in your team. Instead, find a colleague or friend that isn’t afraid to be brutally honest with you about improvements that need to be made. With this being a two-way street, you can practice giving out honest advice too. 

5. Don’t dwell on the negatives. When a project or plan isn’t going as planned, it becomes easier for managers to start second-guessing themselves or not be motivated to give their best effort if they feel like it well end up in failure anyway. Negative thoughts like these can multiply and make a potential solution even harder to find. Instead, try and separate components that are still going well within the task, analyze why they are working, and if any of the approaches or strategies can be applied to any components that are failing. 

For additional insight from Lolly Daskal, click here. Check out this CleanLink piece for related coverage on how to improve mentorship skills as a manager.