Sunday, July 25, 2010

Top things My Best Bosses Have Demonstrated

Understanding Your Role in Conflict Situations - Sandra Thompson
Setting High Expectations and Expect Your Team to Occasionally Fail - Donna Heaton
Do what it takes to get the job done and know your people - Aldro Grieco
You can never be over prepared - Jason Leavitt

Understanding Your Role in Conflict Situations
One of my supervisors at Kadena AB, Japan was MSgt Sandra Thompson. She had a unique way of assisting people with personnel conflicts.  She made you think about what actions you took during the conflicting situation to determine what you could have personally done to improve the situation.

When I went into her office to vent about the situation her first question usually was “What could you have done differently and was it really that important to have that conflict?”

The advice was always the same two steps each time I would talk to her. 

1. You play a role in every conflict. Only you can control if situation is going to get out of hand. Control your emotions and try to think from their point of view to meet them half way.
2. After every conflict, always self evaluate what actions you took and determine what you could do better in future conflicts.

Setting High Expectations and Expect Your Team to Occasionally Fail

Donna was my first Site Director at the UPS Call center located in Las Vegas. Her management approach was to set high expectations that could be achieved but you had to work to get the results required.  She also did not want to hear why we could not get something accomplished but what actions we were going to do to overcome the challenges we faced.

She also had the expectation that people are going to occasionally fail when trying to get to her expectations.  She would pick you up, dust you off and then ask you “What went wrong and what could you have done to prevent the failure?”  She always provided an example of where she has failed in the past and how she overcame it. Failure is painful but something necessary to be successful.  There is no successful person in the business world that has not failed at something along the way. We learn from our mistakes.

Do what it takes to get the job done and know your people

The toughest boss I have worked for is also one my best friends in life.  MSgt Aldro Grieco was the NCO in charge of the TMO office in Misawa AB, Japan.  He took me under his wing and kicked my butt when I was not meeting expectations.  In my youth, I did only enough to get by. I rarely pushed to the next level. He saw potential where others did not.  His candid feedback on my shortcomings was the driving factor in the change of my work ethic. Today, I want to exceed what others are expecting.

His focus for me was to do whatever it took to get a job done, don’t make excuses or settle for anything other than success.  He spent time getting to know his people so he could get the most from each person on his team.  He was one of the few bosses that I have run into that is able to separate what happens in personal time from business time. We could hang out after work but when we were at work it was all business and anything else was unacceptable.
To simplify the impact Aldro has had on my life. I currently have him on my Will to get my belongings if something were to happen to me and my entire family.

He was tough but fair and no nonsense while at work but took the time to know his people.

You can never be over prepared
My current manager is Jason Leavitt.  He approach to being prepared for any significant reviews with senior leaders or the management team is the best I have ever seen.  Time is of no importance for him. I have seen him spend several hours reviewing reports and data to ensure he has a firm understanding of every detail.  He has got that vision of knowing what question may be asked and has everything prepared beforehand. 

It’s better to have too much information then not have the information at your fingertips when asked.