I Have Been Working with 4 Bosses In One Year, and This is What I Learnt
Your boss is either your greatest ally or your worst enemy at work. You choose which based on your relationship — careerattraction
Whatever the case, I will make my leader be my ally. Though, we have so many differences in the perspective or even how to solve a problem. I never had an idea to be an enemy of him/her.
It doesn’t mean that I will be a “Yes Man.” As a subordinate, I have also been fighting my superiors a hundred times in a good way. That implied that I do care about my organization. If I thought that I have a better idea, I would convince anyone to understand it.
At least, I need two weeks to get synergized with my supervisor completely. Of course, that is when we have high compatibility. In case we don’t have it, our time and effort will be higher.
From 2020 until recently, there have been four managers who have been leading me directly. It means I must adapt to a different kind of person in less than three months to keep our peak performance.
Here is The Challenge!
All those changing events were every day in any organization. In my case, the first event was my decision because I move to another company. Then, management’s decision was triggering the second and third turning events. On average, I pushed myself to adapt in two weeks. I learned their visions, type of leadership, strengths, and weaknesses.
This Way is Old but Gold
I accelerate the adaptation processes with one on one meetings. In the first week, we constantly consume plenty of time to discuss the target, expectations, current conditions, and personalities. Here is how I did it.
How One on One Sessions Enlighten my Way of Working
All your team members need to be heard
medium.com.
Each one of them is unique. All of them have remarkable characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. Among them, there is a person with more than 15 years of experience in managing people. On the other hand, there is also someone with no experience in managing more than five people. There is also a man with calm behavior but very charismatic. On the opposite, there is also one person with a very impulsive character.
I learned a lot from all of them, and in this article, I would like to share it with you. Here are the similar everyday things among them that I believe will be beneficial for a leader.
#1 Share a Vision with The Team
The most crucial criteria for a leader is a vision. It will drive all the team to move in the same direction.
The Only Thing Worse than Being Blind is Having Sight But No Vision — Hellen Keller
They all share their goals with the team in the introduction event and then explain the programs to achieve those goals.
There was a moment when I become so selfish and ignorant; I asked one of my Bosses about his vision with a condescending tone. I was not respecting him because, in my opinion, he was still lack of skill and experience. Then he responded with a simple answer.
Author : Sir, what is your vision in this department?
Boss : Let’s make our department great by implementing 5S correctly and consistently
Long story short, our department becomes really greater. We only did what he said, and by consistently implementing 5S, we improved productivity, efficiency and a lot of works became simpler. For anyone who is not familiar, 5S is the concept from Toyota Ways, which consists of Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set in Order), Seiso (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize), and Sitsuke (Sustain).
That was my bad in judging a leader. The fact was he is capable of analyzing our very problem then repairing it. I reflected on that and took it as a precious lesson.
#2 Build Up High-Level Agility
To survive, we need to be ready for any possibility. This is why my leaders were always building up our agility. Fearless to any obstacle. Even if we fail, we need to recover fast, then improve from that.
#3 Look on The Big Picture Mapping
Being able to look at The Big Picture is a mandatory skill for a leader. It will become the greatest supporter for making a decision.
In a complex problem, when many variables are included and any action affecting others, a leader must have the courage to decide. There was never be a case with a win-win solution, so the leader must decide which side must be prioritized. And for that reason, looking at the big picture is very important.
By looking at the big picture mapping, it is easier to define the root-cause of the problem.
#4 Take An Extra Mile
Does your boss usually leave the office late?
Well, that is what I usually see for all of my 4 bosses.
It is not because they are incapable of their role. They are actually doing more than supposed to be. It can be planning improvement, analyzing more data, and etc. That is what we call an extra mile.
The leader who always takes the extra mile will have more options in making a decision, having more answers to your questions, and of course, they are respected by others.
#5 Think and Act Simple
A higher position will only bring more complex problems to solve, naturally.
That is why we need to solve it most simply. My leaders always scolds me because I was often thinking too complex, though the solution is easy.
Simplicity is The Tip of Leadership
Well, that is all I could share with you right now.
If you are interested in reading more about leadership, this article might also be interesting to you.
