It's a difficult relationship, this one, and finding the perfect boss is a function of many factors. The biggest of course, is your own personality.
Reflecting back on my own career, I've had the opportunity to work with some great bosses, like the three Balajis in Satyam, Rick and Asha at HP and Aniruddha at Dell.
Whether remote or co-located, great bosses do some things better than not-so-great bosses.
- Their focus is always on your needs. A great boss understands that a great employee has needs that have to be fulfilled, and that it sometimes has to come before the client or customer needs for long term success. Once a boss establishes a trust that your need is paramount to him/her, then you trust that boss with all your heart.
- A boss admits when he can't help you. Great bosses are direct and upfront with their plans. When I talked to one of my bosses that I wanted to move to another division as the work they were doing in L&D was much superior to what I was doing, he told me "I know that you might want to go there, but right now I need you in this role, as we are getting the basics in place here" . I could take that because I knew that he had point 1 on his mind too.
- A boss always communicates. A great boss always takes time to spend time to share what's on his/her mind, the issues he/she is up against as well as what you are going through in the office. I believe when a boss shares his/her vulnerabilities you end up making the relationship much more richer. It would be a great idea to also share ideas and bounce off ideas that the boss could use. This could be during a performance related meeting or additionally.
- A boss gives you credit. In my first job, when we were trying to realign our business unit I helped get a lot of business folks into a primarily technology company. During the unit's annual review offsite, the MD of the firm walked into the review and my VP told him that we had been able to hire some really great people without any additional expenses, and then he told him "All because of that guy." he pointed to me sitting in the last row,"Gautam was instrumental in getting them due to his internet networks". Remember, this was the time when I was two years into the job and the VP was 6 levels above me in rank. By sharing it with the MD and putting the focus on me, he ensured that I always put in more than 100% in my work after that too :-)
- A great boss is not insecure of your abilities. A great boss never shies away from hiring people who have skills that complement his own. Most people get scared of hiring a subordinate who gets a functional skill that they have little or no knowledge about. Working with a great boss who has no such insecurities is an amazing feeling, have you experienced it?
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Sounds great ideally. In my 4 years of consulting industry experience (having interactions with more than 50 top level professionals and their respective 150-200 juniors from different industries), none of these employees found 2 qualities (which are listed in your blog) in their respective bosses...
ReplyDeleteEmployees who felt that their bosses had such qualitative they admitted that it was because of the dependency of their bosses to help them out in trick situations.
I summarize that such qualities are either created or felt by different employees with respect to their bosses on situation basis……
Paul Glen has developed a rather simple philosophy of boss-subordinate relationships. Some excerpts:
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice if every boss came with a standard API? It would be so easy to look at the interface specifications and know exactly what he expected, in what format he expected it, when you should deliver it, what predictable events would result from your input and how you should handle error conditions. All the politics would go away. Those pesky emotions would become a nonissue. Success would become deterministic.
Read my post here: http://financexchange.blogspot.com/2006/11/boss-is-always-right-your-workplace.html
Fully agree with Ranjan...build an API ...train bosses before they get started wid their roles and measure it, tweak it and what not is possible!
ReplyDeleteHi Gautam!
ReplyDeleteSpot on! I have been a rather "passive" reader of your blog for quiet sometime now and couldnt agree with you more. In my 5 years of work experience, i have been fortunate to work with bosses who have all the qualities mentioned by you and some who are clueless about it :-(.
One plus point tho' is one can always learn what not to do!
Thanks for churning out some amazing posts!!
And yeah..I have not been as fortunate as you in finding great bosses at satyam yet :-(
Karthik
Great analysis GG,
ReplyDeleteMy best boss : has to be John Idicula currently heading HR for Metro Hypermarket in India.
The best part of it was when he delegated a responsibility, he would stay hands off of it unless I was facing a problem & went to him with the problem, then he would give an idea or recommendation or nudge in the right direction.
Which is so much better than bosses who stand over your shoulder peering at everything that u do. & believe me I had a boss like that too. Didn't stay there very long tho :)
The 1st kind of boss brings out the best in you. The 2nd makes u quit.
Indeed, a responsive boss is the best thing that can happen to someone at the workplace,especially early in the career. I had the opportunity to work with and observe such a person during my meagre work ex of 1 year as SAP consultant. The thing to watch was how he used to handle the client, right from the data entry operator upto the CEO/CMD. It is undoubtedly a gr8 learning experience that cant be had from any course or degree. It prepares you for the tougher assignments to come. I would liken it to learning how to ride....the initial support is crucial...but too much of it is harmful. that's what good bosses are capable of realising and that's exactly what makes it a pleasure to work with them :)
ReplyDeleteDDI (Development Dimensions International) has developed a simple theory, based on observation of actual behaviors and attitudes.
ReplyDeleteGood bosses or effective leaders tend to provide support without removing responsibility. They hold you accountable for your decisions. They do help in terms of direction, rationale, resources but end of the day it is all abt u.
The folks at CIO.com have assembled a handy guide to boss relations. Though aimed mostly at the IT exec, the guide also includes valuable insights for non-tech staffers, including articles on how to tell your boss you're overworked, how to read his facial expressions--or anyone else's--and a piece on how to tell you're about to get fired.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cio.com/specialreports/bossandyou/index.html
Considering the fact proven by research that most people don't leave companies but their bosses, this discussion is highly relevant. Most loyalty in today's world seems to involve people, not companies. At the end of the day, for most people, their 'company' is their 'boss'. In my perspective, it boils down to 3 key inter related points.
ReplyDelete1. Trust
Building trust is most important and difficult. Communicating openly & listening carefully for inputs/feedback (during both good & bad times) seems to be one of the important constituents. Constant encouragement and faith in the team member's ability would also be really important.
2. Integrity
This is about 'Walking the Talk'. Bosses are closly watched by their team members. If the talk and actions of the boss are not aligned, building trust would be close to impossible.
3. Respect
Building mutual respect involves efforts from both constituents. Bosses earn respect by 'walking the talk', communicating openly, setting clear expectations and sincerely appreciating great performances. The team member earns respect by clearly understanding and ensuring that his/her boss meets or exceeds expectations for the organization.
Best regards,
Tojo