I’ve been fortunate to have a few wonderful bosses over the course of my career. Not just decent, not just good, but truly exceptional people. I’ve also been fortunate that the number of truly terrible managers has been very low.
The truly exceptional ones have treated me with honesty and respect, supported me in tough times, cared about me as a unique individual, and given me challenging and valuable work. These are the kind of people I want to stay in touch with, just because they’re wonderful people and were such a great friend for me. And of course, I was saddened when circumstances tore us away to different places in the organization, or different companies.
I learned a lot from these people, who were central to the formation of my philosophy of an ideal workplace. I’ve been trying to take what I learned to help others create their own ideal workplace by developing excellent leadership skills. It’s now core to who I am.
What’s interesting about these leaders is that I would work for them, or work with them, doing anything. They’re the kind of people who can be friends, but more importantly, we can do wonderful things together through our work. I find that most others also know these certain people well, and have the same respect that I do.
These leaders will never have any problem putting together a choice team of highly motivated and productive people. I strive to be that kind of leader myself, but it’s an incredibly high standard.
By the way, there’s also people who I would work WITH in any situation, so it’s not just about those who were in some kind of management role. Oddly enough, the work relationship may or may not extend to personal friendship or even social circles.
Do you have people you’d work with in any situation? What have you learned from them?
by Carl Dierschow
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