In Search of Authenticity: The Path to Supervisory Excellence

If you are looking for a book that promises instant success by following five or ten easy steps to supervisory excellence, this is not that book. This book will take you on a personal journey of discovery to find an approach to supervision that is authentic for you. Many new ideas and techniques will be presented that may challenge your current assumptions about supervision, but remember, you hold the power to accept or reject anything that is presented because only you know what feels comfortable and authentic.

Quigg's insight comes from four decades of supervisory experience in government, the private sector, and academia. His approach to supervision and management is based on four fundamental truths that apply to all organizations. The First Truth: Organizations are never created arbitrarily; they are always created for a reason. They have a purpose, a mission to pursue. Supervisors keep employees focused on the organization's mission. The Second Truth: No two employees or supervisors are the same. Everyone brings all aspects of their personality and experiences with them when they enter the workplace. The Third Truth: The setting and structure of workplaces vary, yet they are all complex social structures where employees gather to do the organization's work under the direction of a supervisor. The Fourth Truth: Women and men of all ages, racial identities, and ethnicities with unique personalities can become effective supervisors. The key to success is finding an authentic style that is compatible with their personality and values, appropriate for the workplace setting, and consistent with proven principles of supervision. Creative tools for delegation, decision-making, time-management, report preparation, dealing with difficult employees, tracking workplace performance, motivating employees, and assisting with many other aspects of supervision are included. Quigg shares some of his biggest mistakes, hoping it prevents you from making the same mistakes, and explores efficiency versus effectiveness, process and project work, and many other practical topics that supervisors face daily. You'll evaluate the effectiveness of your supervisory style and review different theories, approaches, and techniques of supervision. Finally, you'll try various techniques in your workplace setting to see what works and feels compatible with your personality. Quigg offers advice and suggestions, but remember, you hold the power to accept or reject anything that is presented because only you know what feels comfortable and authentic.

Tim Quigg is a husband, father, and passionate advocate for improving the quality of supervision and management from the office, laboratory, factory floor, and school, to the boardroom. His career spans over four decades as a manager and supervisor—first in regional and state government, then in business, where he co-founded two computer software startup companies, and finally in academia where he served for two decades as the associate chair for administration, finance, and entrepreneurship in the computer science department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a BA in Political Science from Wake Forest University and an MPA from North Carolina State University. In 1971, Tim began his career as the first white man to serve as a teacher at North Carolina's state reform school for African American girls. This qualifies him as a minor footnote in the state's efforts to integrate its juvenile justice system. He headed a large, federally funded project to develop data-driven methods to help locally elected officials establish priorities for allocating human service block grant funds, and North Carolina's governor appointed him to organize a new office in state government where he served as its first deputy director. For these efforts, he received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor awarded by the governor of North Carolina. His other honors include induction in the inaugural class of distinguished faculty for the Society of Research Administrators International, the UNC-CH Chancellor's Award for Excellence, the inaugural Excellence in Research Administration award, and the award he most cherished, the Excellence in Teaching award presented by the computer science graduate student association.