DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Admit You’re the Supervisor I 21 q How to Gain Respect as a Supervisor COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL being a supervisor How do supervisors gain respect? Respect usually comes in two ways. Many staff members will give you respect simply because of your title and the authority that has been given to you. You will hold the respect of those people until you consistently through your performance give them reason not to respect you. For example, you may say that everyone has to be on time, yet you do not have consequences for those who are late or, even worse, are always late yourself. Consistent marginal performance on the part of you as the supervisor will result in lack of respect from your employees. The second way that you receive respect as a supervisor is by earning it. For most teachers who are promoted through the ranks, and may still even work in the same classroom where you were a teacher, you will mostly likely have to earn the respect of the people you supervise. You were once working alongside other educators, and now you have to tell them what to do. There may be a feeling of “Why do we have to listen to her?” and that can be espe- cially true if others whom you now supervise applied for the same job. So how do you gain respect? Supervisors gain respect through consistent, demonstrated competence. In other words, you do a good job. And doing a good job means that you treat others with respect. Will you make mistakes as a supervisor? Oh yes. We all make mistakes. In those cases you should apolo- gize and move on. If you find yourself repeatedly making the same mistakes, then you will need guidance from your own supervisor to succeed.