Developing Yourself as a Boss

Finally, you won t merely have a new boss; you are likely to be a new boss as well. You will almost certainly have new subordinates. Just as you need to develop a productive relationship with your new boss, so too they need to work effectively with you. In the past, have you done a good job of helping subordinates make their own transitions? What might you do differently this time?

Think about how to apply all the advice in this chapter to working with your own direct reports . The golden rule of transitions is to transition others as you would wish to be transitioned yourself (see The Golden Rule of Transitions ). The same five-conversation framework can help to build productive relationships with the people who report to you. Introduce the framework to them right away and schedule a first conversation with each of them to talk about the situation and about your expectations. Get them to do some pre-work before the meeting ”for example, reading chapter 3 on matching strategy to situation. See how fast you can accelerate their transitions.

The Golden Rule of Transitions

Think about how you would like new bosses to help you transition into new roles. Ideally, what kinds of guidance and support would they give you? Now think about how you deal with new direct reports. What kinds of guidance and support do you give them? Now juxtapose these assessments. Do you transition others as you would wish to be transitioned yourself? If there is a big inconsistency between how you would prefer to be dealt with as a new direct report and how you deal with new direct reports, then you are part of the problem.

Helping direct reports to accelerate their transitions is about more than being a good manager and contributing to others development. The faster your direct reports get up to speed, the better able they will be to help you reach your goals.

 

Finally, seek to learn from bad bosses as well as good ones. You will inevitably experience a less-than - stellar boss at some point in your career. A surprising number of managers remark that I ve learned more from my bad bosses than my good ones. Bad bosses forced them to think about the negative impact of a bad boss. If you find yourself suffering under a bad boss, take the time to figure out his or her faults and what good bosses do differently, and then apply those insights to yourself.

ACCELERATION CHECKLIST

1. How effectively have you built relationships with new bosses in the past? What have you done well? In what areas do you need improvement?

2. Create a plan for the situational diagnosis conversation. Based on what you know now, what issues will you raise with your boss in this conversation? What do you want to say up front? In what order do you want to raise issues?

3. Create a plan for the expectations conversation. How will you figure out what your new boss expects you to do?

4. Create a plan for the style conversation. How will you figure out how your boss prefers to interact with you? What mode of communication (e-mail, voicemail, face-to-face) does he or she prefer? How often should you interact? How much detail should you provide? What types of issues should you consult with him or her about before deciding?

5. Create a plan for the resources conversation. Given what you need to do, what resources are absolutely needed? With fewer resources, what would you have to forgo? If you had more resources, what would the benefits be? Be sure to build the business case!

6. Create a plan for the personal development conversation. What are your strengths and where do you need improvement? What kinds of assignments or projects might help you develop skills you need?