Hire your boss

A friend and I were just passing our time over a casual IM when my friend shot the Q -- "Vivek, what if you were to hire your boss?"

I was stunned for a while. And then I broke into a convulsion. My friend helped me by repeating the Q, and then challenged me to answer it. I then realized then seriousness behind the Q.

We all have seen (or at least heard of) bad bosses, and a few lucky souls have been blessed with a good boss, too. So, how do we define our "dream boss?" What are the personal and professional traits that we wish to see in our boss? And the best, what if the firm gives us the opportunity to hire our boss. (I know the Q may sound stupid, and a far-fetched cry, but the answer should be interesting.)

The one most-coveted trait I want in my boss is that he has mutual trust with his sub-ordinates. This one quality has the potential to change the entire business. In my career of 7 years, I have been blessed with 1 such boss. She has had tremendous trust in my ability to do anything and everything. She used to tell me, "Vivek, you have a fire. Don't let it go!"

Let's reflect on this. What happens to you when your boss shows "genuine" trust in your ability... ability to solve a crisis, or to meet the deadline of a project, or to produce the product with high quality. I deliberately used the word "genuine" here. There are cases when your boss may make you a scapegoat, and emotionally blackmail you, such as, "Oh Vivek, you are the best. You have never disappointed me. I know you can do this!", or, "Vivek, this is not what I expect from you. You are the best in the team."

In stead, consider a case when you made a mistake, and your boss says this to you -- "Vivek, it is OK. We all make mistakes. Let's learn from the mistake, and ensure that we do not repeat them." Did you differentiate between the choice of pronouns here... from "I" and "you" to "we."

When your boss reflects trust in you, you get that zing-thing in your heart to do better next time, to give your best. Basically, we all start off by seeing our work as "the company's work", "the boss' work." However, genuine trust may change our perspective, and we may see our work as "our work."

I have come across various case-studies when one leave the firm because one wishes to leave one's boss. It is simple; for an employee, her boss matters the most in the entire company, so much as the boss becomes synonymous with the company. When we blame our company, we actually blame our boss, or our team mates. Most likely, we do not have the perspective to judge an entire firm, and are prejudiced to see just a handful of people to represent the entire company.

For all of my dear readers who either presently have or have had a "good" boss, a big WOW from me. If you have had a good boss in the past, I have a Q for you -- "Do you want to work again with your ex-boss?" :-).

Happy bossing!