As part of a training session on Managing Your Boss I recently asked a group of managers to think about what their best managers did that made them so good. I got lots of the usual labels (passionate, visionary, inspiring etc) and had to work quite hard to explore what they actually did that made the followers believe them to be those things.
Here are some of the results:
- Always drove ideas forward
- Made you feel a part of it, valued your achievements.
- Saw in me things that I did not see in myself. A mentor.
- Tended to say ‘yes’ – always encouraging – looking for reasons ‘why’ rather than ‘why not’.
- Saying ‘Thanks’. Appreciating my work.
You will notice that I still didn’t get to the behaviours behind some of these.
What did the boss do that made you believe they were driving ideas forward? Regular updates, clear achievements against goals?
How did the boss make you feel a part of it? What did he or she do?
What does your boss do that makes them so effective?
Describe their behaviours in the comments section below. The best entry by the end of the month – January 08 – (as decreed by me) will get a prize.