My Best Boss

If you're a supervisor or manager, you know how challenging it can be to handle your responsibilities well.  Being bossy is easy; being a good boss is hard work. Being a great boss takes a combination of talent, emotional intelligence, and wisdom.

In Good Boss, Bad Boss, Psychology Today writer Willow Lawson states, "a worker's relationship with his boss is nearly equal in importance to his relationship with his spouse when it comes to overall well-being. Even friendly coworkers or a rewarding occupation cannot compensate for a negative relationship with the boss."

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of having lunch with one of my former supervisors.  Patty lives in another state now, but when she comes back to Ohio for a visit we always try to get together.  She was probably the best boss I've ever had.  I've thought about her style over the years and tried to figure out where I could emulate her and where I needed to find my own voice. 

What made her a good boss?  The first thing that comes to mind is that she had a sense of humor.  She hadn't been in our department very long and I was still trying to decide what I thought about her, when someone brought a singing holiday welcome mat into the office.  I can still picture her jumping on and off that silly door mat singing along loudly (and quite off-key) and grinning at me.

She didn't take herself too seriously.

Patty knew her stuff and kept up to date with industry trends. She was involved in her profession on a national level and was always looking for ways to expand and share her knowledge.

She was a student, as well as a teacher.

She knew I was looking for more challenging work, so when the opportunity presented itself she introduced me to the world of medical staff administration.  She stood up to TPTB to send me to conferences and get the training I needed to not just do the job, but to understand the underpinnings and know why it was important.

She wasn't afraid to "give away" some of her authority.

Patty was manager over several different hospital departments.  Prior to her joining our staff we all knew one another in that "greeting in the hallway" kind of way.  She instituted staff meetings that brought us all into the same room at the same time.  Lunch was included.  Before long, we all had a part in providing that lunch and arranging those meetings.  Sometimes it involved a trip to the deli to help her pick things up, or a trip to the party store for some inexpensive fun decorations.  The lunch meetings developed themes, and the agendas became artwork. 

I suspect that her boss thought there was a bit too much party and not enough work getting done at those meetings.  But if he did, he was wrong.  We hammered out problems, jumped in to help one another, and became a team.

One of our projects was revising a large filing system.  (Oh yeah, big fun.)  It was important, it needed to be done, but, yuk.  A group of us came in on a Saturday.  We sat around a large table like an old-fashioned quilting bee, laughed, talked, (ate of course) and got to work.  The only down side that I remember was the music we listed to on the radio.  Did I mention that Patty has terrible taste in music?  Some funky rock and roll station.  Didn't matter though, we got through that ugly job and had fun in the process.  We even felt kind of special that we'd been invited to help.

She knew how to bring people together.

Being a boss isn't easy, and it can be a thankless job.  If you're fortunate enough to work for a talented leader, make sure you let them know they're appreciated. 

Thanks Patty.

Comments

[Kim]

I think those qualities transcend the actual job - they sound like qualities a good manager should have no matter where they work. I have a class coming up where we will look at the qualities of a good manager, so this was perfect timing! : D

[Patty]

Rita - thank you so much for the kind words and compliments. It is easy to be a good boss (I never like to refer to myself as a "boss") when you have talented individuals around you. It has been almost 12 years since we have worked together and I have learned some other things about being a great & successful leader:

- People work "with" me and not "for" me
- Be a coach & mentor first
- Surround yourself with the best of the best & if you can not, then train them to be the best
- Look for individuals with passion & that "fire in the gut"
- Bring out the best in everyone & look for others who will be great leaders
- Work is not the "mutual admiration society," but you must command respect and your staff must respect you
- Life is short, so if you don't smile on your way to work then perhaps you have a "career decision" to make and that is o.k.

You know me & all my little sayings!!! Patty

[Mike]

I manage a team of 7 employees in my organization. In order to have an effective team, I know I must strive to be the best boss I can possibly be. I recently read the book My Best Boss Ever by Rory Rowland. It was very insightful and helped me ensure I was doing everything I could to be the best boss ever!