No I haven’t been getting a sneak preview of your annual appraisal, quite the opposite in fact. I want to flip the concept on its head and put your boss under the microscope. The concept of hierarchy to me has always been an interesting one. Whilst I support total engagement across all areas of a company regardless of your experience or position, a hierarchy is necessary to outline the responsibilities of you and your immediate peers and for simple company physics, these structures are necessary.
I’ve often reflected on some of my previous “superiors” over the years and have felt that their performance is often underestimated in the context of my own. Any boss should be opening up opportunities for you by building trust in your area/department. They achieve this through clarity, discipline and assertiveness in ways to ensure that all of their stakeholders understand the teams position and their purpose, ultimately flying the flag for you and your fellow team members.
I often look for sporting analogies in business, James Kerr’s “Legacy” is one fine example of what sport can teach us when it comes to team ethos and high performance. It emphasises the need to employ strong characters but fundamentally good characters and team players regardless of skill set. A manager should be no different and should be held accountable by the same standards, a collective team effort ensures that this happens. The fact still remains that many individuals are pressed to leadership roles based on skill or knowledge, this does not make someone a good leader by default.It is important to make assessments for yourself as to how your boss is working for you and to be transparent in how this can be improved, fundamentally they are there to support in order to deliver to the agenda in which they have been assigned, they own the authority in the direction that needs to be taken but should generate respect through working not telling.
It may not seem like it, but you do have a choice to stick or twist when it comes to a boss. I often get frustrated with individuals who choose to simply complain, even more so than being faced with a boss who cannot lead. Those of us who work in technology under an agile framework are fortunate, as the policy relies on iterative feedback through its ceremonies, selfishly for me leading a team this poses invaluable opportunity to learn and drive out the pain points, not only in the product, but in our process and culture.
