I have noticed that in my handling of people who work for me, I tend to mirror their behavior. When I first hire someone, I am very attentive to them. In fact, I normally delay hiring new people until they will be able to have my full attention. There is a lot I will have to explain to them and a lot I would need to do to check up on them.
Since I am very short of time most of the time, I have to prioritize where my time goes. If I am not done on a project, and someone needs my help. I have to choose. Should I delay my project to deal with someone’s project or finish my BPO project? If that new helper is putting in a lot of hours helping me, I would be more likely to get back to them quickly since I value them. Please keep in mind that I hire freelancers which might be part of the problem. On the other hand, if they slack off, and deliver far less than they promised me, I tend to keep them waiting as they are no longer critical to my survival. If someone quits who doesn’t do much, I am not losing much either.
In real life, I need to find a way to get more done and always be ahead on my schedule so I have time to deal with hirees. That way I never have to keep anyone waiting. I hope I find a way. That means outsourcing a higher percentage of my work so I’m not bogged down as much. Another thing that I need to think about is hiring people who speed me up, so I mirror their behavior, because I am always behaving like a mirror!