Management Styles....a new thread?

[Junhyong Kim]

Hi,

while there might not be a "key" to managing people, I think one of the 
most important aspect is separating a person's work from their sense of 
self. I try (not always successfully) hard to show my students that I 
respect them as a person and that what I say to them in terms of science 
does not relate to how I think of them as a person. I believe that this 
sense of respect/trust is important in any relationship. After that, 
different people have different needs. Some students need deadlines, 
some need daily supervision, others need to be left alone. It seems that 
it's also important that the students also learn to distinguish their 
sense of self from work performance. We know how the world of science is 
already full of people who take criticisms of their work as insult to 
their ancestors or something.

Another thing, I think that it is also important to have the students 
set the goals for themselves whether it's getting a degree, a job, 
finishing an experiment--and that they know that they've set the goals. 
Then I feel that it's my job to see that they meet those goals even if 
it means being hardnosed at times.

Junhyong