A FOLLOWER'S PERSPECTIVE OF BOSSES

During discussions on leadership, teamwork, organizational life, culture, etcetera….nearly all people in the workplace think and feel according to how they are led and/or managed. More often than not, initial emotions, thinkings and feelings expressed come flowing out from the perspective of ‘ourselves’ - the follower. This is true, even in discussions with supervisors, managers and even senior management personnel. This is likely because our predominant thought-patterns are based on ourselves as followers first and foremost. 99% of us report to someone else, no matter our current status, position or role. As people consider issues of ineffectiveness by management (leadership), the first thoughts and ideas out of their mouths are from their ‘dissatisfied-follower’ role. That is because those are highly charged thoughts regarding how they are being treated, cared for, communicated with and bottom line – led, or not led as the case may be.
This may not be the most all-inclusive and perfect list, however I would surmise that if any leader routinely led according to these factors, they would be one perfect leader in most follower’s eyes! Here are the Top 10, as expressed by people in all kinds of organizations serving in all kinds of different capacities. Interestingly, the vast majority of these observations, complaints, wants and needs are mostly from management folks themselves, ……..think about the significance of what that says for a moment! The words of a follower:

1. I WANT my boss to support me, shield me and care about me-not just care about what I can do. Feedback would be nice every now and then also…
2. I WISH my boss would deal with that one person that makes everybody else miserable. That one ‘bad apple’ is just allowed to do what he wants, because they are afraid of him, or think that we can’t live without him, what a joke.
3. I WANT to be involved early on regarding impending changes, new ideas, solutions to problems… When I am not involved, I just start not caring about how well things are done, get an attitude and become very apathetic. My motivation is shot…
4. I NEED the opportunity to develop myself, be taught new skills, have the opportunity to be promoted, or maybe just be recognized for what I do now.
5. I WISH things were done fairly, no matter who knows who, or who the boss likes at the moment…
6. I WISH I could be communicated with on what is going on, not just what she thinks I need to know. I find more out more from co-workers than I do from above…
7. I WANT conflict to be dealt with fairly, quickly, … When people are in conflict, it is just allowed to fester, drive everyone else crazy and puts everyone on edge…
8. I WISH we would take the time to do things right. We rush through everything; like when someone new is hired, we just give them a few minutes of training and throw them into the routine. We barely even introduce them, and for sure we are setting them up for failure, because of poor training. Team-building is basically non-existent…
9. I NEED my boss to provide me the resources I need to do my job well.
10. I WISH I was more challenged, maybe even get the boss to delegate some things to me. She is afraid to let anyone else do anything for fear of her own job, or maybe she just doesn’t trust anyone. How will we ever get any better?

These as well as others, are what is required for me to flourish, grow, learn and become more and more productive and useful to ME, to YOU, to the ORGANIZATION. Maybe the question is, are you OK with me becoming you…., are you modeling the right stuff? Take care, DOUG