I remember what it feels like to go from "one of the guys", to a supervisor of those same guys. It's a very crappy feeling when you know topics you used to kick around with everyone at lunch are now discussed without you around. That was the hardest adjustment I had to make. The same group of guys I shared common experiences and hardships with were now going to be under my supervision. Over the course of one weekend, you go from "guy with us in the trenches" to "admin a-hole". I called a meeting about my third day as a supervisor and tried to tell everyone that "my door is always open, I'm still one of you'll." The whole speech felt hollow and useless. I waited in silence after telling everyone at the conference table this fact and watched as everyone just sat there looking down at the table. No jokes, no comments, nothing. I then just sat down in my chair and told all the guys. "Look, I'm not any good at being in charge. I wasn't given a choice, I need you guys to continue to do what you do, how you do it. I'm not here to change anything, just to support all of you and give you whatever you need to get the job done." I sat there staring around the room for what seemed like eternity. Finally, Travis, my co-worker of over a decade and someone I would trust with my life, asked if he might say a few words. I told him please do. Travis got up from his chair and walked over the dry erase board in the conference room. He acted like he was going to say something several times, then just shook his head, looked at me very seriously for a few minutes, and proceeded to draw a huge phallus on the board, writing my name above it and then a caption below the picture exclaiming "WE ALL HATE YOU!".......Everyone lost it, including me. He did this while MY supervisor was watching. My supervisor had decided to sit in and see how my first meeting with my team went. My supervisor was crying he was laughing so hard. Travis shook my hand and took his seat, and everything was ok after that. I think three quarters of getting respect at my work is if you are ok with laughing at yourself. If you take yourself too seriously, they are going to let you have it without remorse....