Recently I just switched my employer after spending 13 some years with the same bank.
And in the middle of the switching, I am trying to find out how the other workers feel about their boss/employer. This article originally is written by Dave Logan at CBS interactive business network.
7 wishes we could tell Our Boss
1. You’re nothing like Lincoln, Churchill or Clinton
Nothing is funnier, or more tragic, than a mediocre leader who thinks he’s Lincoln, or Churchill or Clinton. And nothing is a greater waste of time than when an “idiot boss” tries to fine-tune his style by reading about the Greats.
A much better use of time would be for someone with credibility to sit down with the Boss and say, “You’re like none of those people, but if you work really hard, you could become a great leader in your own right.”
2. Guess what? YOU are the problem
Why isn’t the company more innovative?
Because you, the Boss, drown us in initiatives, metrics, and plans, and so we don’t have any time.
Why isn’t the organization more successful?
Because the strategy you want us to pursue is inept, compared to what we could do if you got out of the way.
Why isn’t the company a great place to work?
Because you’re creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation
3. You put a new thing on your employees ‘to do’ list. What are you taking off?
Peter F. Drucke was a fan of the idea of “purposeful abandonment”–determining which activities will be stopped. My friend David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, likes to say that a person’s success can be measured by looking at how long their “stop doing list” is. The same holds for companies. Most people, and most companies, don’t have a “stop doing list” at all.
4. If the employees don’t understand the strategy, it’s your fault.
What’s the problem here?
It’s not about how the strategy is communicated, it’s about the listening that creates the strategy in first place. Anne Mulcahy tells the story of what happened when she assumed the role of president and COO of Xerox. It came down to listening to everyone: employees, customers, and suppliers. She didn’t check her brain at the door and merely combine what they said into the strategy. She checked it against everything she knew about the markets, and she also listened to advice from experts. The result from that long process was a strategy that was clear, concise, and that made people around Xerox say, “yes, that’s right!” If your company doesn’t have that kind of a strategy, the blame rests at the top.
5. You don’t build loyalty by blaming employees
Many Bosses try to send the message “you and I have a special relationship” by bad-mouthing others. The result? The message people hear is “I’ll throw anyone under the bus. The minute you’re out of favor, I’ll do the same to you.”
Great leaders throw themselves under the bus by taking responsibility for any failure in the company. When the company succeeds, it’s due to others
6. Your staff will regard your tenure as the bad old days
Most large companies remember a time when they had boundless energy and felt the potential of greatness knocking at the door. That was before the bullies, brats, and bureaucrats took over.
7. Great leaders listen and you don’t.
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