I put-up a new post over at HBR this morning, which is the 4th in what will ultimately be 12 Things the Good Bosses Believe. This fourth belief builds on research showing that the best bosses strike the middle ground between being too assertive and not assertive enough — the press their people hard enough to motivate and guide them, but stop short of being overbearing or micromanaging to the point of pissing-off followers or undermining their confidence or work. As I say in the post, this requires much flexibility, and is one reason that perhaps the central idea in Good Boss, Bad Boss is that the best bosses are in tune with what it feels like to work for them — which means in this case to understand just how hard to push your people on average and to be able to "read" when it is time to interject, perhaps lean on them or instruct them, versus when to back-off, is a crucial and difficult craft to develop. As I say at HBR, my favorite quote about this fine art comes from Tommy Lasorda:
When I heard about this research, I couldn't help but think of a quote
from Tommy Lasorda, who has worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers for
almost 50 years, including a 20-year stint as the team's manager. The
first day he took charge of the team, Tommy said to the press: "I
believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too
tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it."
I love that. Also, Julia Kirby, who edits my posts at HBR, dug up the fabulous picture below. It is in the final link in the article, but I couldn't resist inserting it here:
The reason I love this picture so much is, as I have discussed on Work Matters before, and explain in the new HBR post:
[w]hen I had finished writing much of my
new book, I had a conversation with the very talented Marc Hershon about
what to call it. Marc is unusually good at naming things. He's the
branding expert who named the Blackberry and the Swiffer, for example,
and has helped authors like Tom
Kelley and Dr.
Phil come up with titles for books that turned into bestsellers.
(Marc also co-authored his own book called I Hate People and
produces all manner of other creative output, including screenplays, TV
scripts, jokes for the likes of Jay Leno and Dana Carvey, and weekly
political cartoons for San Francisco-area newspapers.) Based on the
chapters he read, and thinking about the bosses he knew, he suggested
the title "Top Dog on a Tightrope." What struck him, in other words,
was the constant balancing act required. He also thought it was
important to emphasize that, while everyone misjudges a step now and
then, the best ones fall less often, because they have the skill to make
constant and correct adjustments to stay out of trouble.
Being a "perfectly assertive" boss is a lot easier to talk about then to do. I would love to hear your ideas about how you –or bosses you know — have accomplished this feat. Please comment here or over at the HBR post
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