Alright….it’s been quite a while since I’ve last written. To be honest, I’ve really struggled with time management and sparks. So, no promises that I’ll be blogging more but I have started to find inspiration about blogging lately so maybe…..I’m not going to go all Michael Phelps and come out of retirement to destroy the world but maybe you’ll see a few more posts.
Motivation for this blog comes from a personal experience lately at work where my “Big Boss” has recently taken a new role. Now, I’ve had a million direct managers during my time but very rarely has the big boss moved on to take a new role….so it’s been a unique experience. Working for someone like I did was a remarkable experience that honestly changed my entire outlook on work and life...honestly, it's hard to overstate how amazing the experience has been.
And…..it got me thinking, wow, a lot is written about managers and peers but we typically just ignore how important the leader of an organization is when it comes to day to day “work”. With that, I figured I’d fire off a few of my learnings/insights on the importance of the Big Boss:
Inspiration - When you are looking at a company or role you really want to work for someone who inspires you. Now, I’ve been blessed with this for most of my career but that’s not the norm. You not only want, you DESERVE to have a leader who can set a vision and inspire the team to drive to that outcome.
They are human - Yeah, yeah yeah, we are all humans I get it. What this means, is you want someone leading your organization that understands ultimately we are all humans and work is one part of our lives. I’ll never forget emailing the big boss explaining how amazing our benefits team was and how much I appreciate not only the service they provided...but how they did it and made me feel like the most important person in the company. Big boss emailed back almost immediately being more excited than I WAS about the experience and proceeded to thank everyone I had mentioned. Good leaders know their teams need food/water and actively seek to out ways to make them feel appreciated….bad leaders are just jerks.
Accountable - I think every single big boss in my career has had the same attribute and it usually goes something like this….
Big Boss says something in a meeting
Jeff emails saying “yeah totally, who owns that?”
Big boss asks me why I don’t
Jeff suddenly finds himself doing more work….
You know what, it’s AWESOME!! That’s exactly what you want your leader to do. If you want to get things done and want to really make change you need to have people be accountable. I’ve always loved when I walk about of a meeting or conversation with the Big Boss with a new action item or project. It tells me not only do they trust me to do cool work (no comment) but they also understand that the vision will require work and people that want to help should be empowered. These are the moments that change your career and change you life….and it’s all because the Big Boss pushes you JUST a little be more towards something that you wanted to do anyway.
Ok, I’m sure we could go on and on about different ways our Bosses, bosses boss have influenced our careers or lives but I’ll call it a blog. I’ve got a few more ideas floating in my brain so keep an eye out for more content…..until then keep your chin up if you are searching for a new role the market is pretty slow but should pick up after the election.
