A quick follow-up to this: Be the Best Boss.
At Say Leadership Coaching, we call this our “Seek and ye shall find” exercise in the value alignment of Hō‘imi— to look for better and best.
It’s an exercise others I’ve suggested it to have thoroughly enjoyed: Interview others to self-coach your management style. Learn more about those we dub Great Managers.
Seek out people who seem to be thriving in their work, for you are looking for success stories and how they happened. Ask them the same question I asked you in Be the Best Boss, “Think about the best boss you have ever had: Can you tell me what made them so good?”
This is what a manager I coached reported back after he initiated several of those interviews for himself:
“My best conversations were with people outside of my company, because the internal ones could get too gossipy, or people wondered if I had another motive. My key learning from those good conversations, were that their best bosses elevated work for them in some way. They could give their attentions to that stuff that sits on my own “Someday/Maybe” list forever because I don’t feel I have time to tackle them. Great bosses seem to get their lists done because their basic competencies keep day-today work humming.”
Send me a note back on what you learned too, or share it with everyone on the Managing with Aloha LinkedIn Group. I would love to hear about your interviews!
Postscript: This coaching exercise is also good complement to our November 13th affirmation: “We learn best from other people.”
