Note From Boss To Employees
- I am sometimes under enormous pressure from upper management; pressure that you seldom see. Anything that you can do to make my job easier will be greatly appreciated.
- Your interests are important, but please remember that I also have to juggle the concerns and feelings of a bunch of other people, including individuals outside of the department.
- I may not have been given a huge amount of training before being named to a supervisory position. As a result, I’ve had to learn through trial and error. That's not always bad. Many of my responsibilities can only be learned through practice.
- If you are a former co-worker of mine, please recognize that supervising former peers is one of the toughest jobs any supervisor faces. The support that you give me is crucial.
- I will make mistakes. Please give me the same understanding that you’d like me to give you when you blunder.
- If I do something dumb or am on the verge of doing so, please tell me. Don’t hint. Tell me.
- I don’t like unpleasant surprises. Let me in on bad news as soon as possible. (Things that you believe are obvious may not be that clear to me. On the other hand, you'd be surprised at how quickly the latest gossip reaches my ears.)
- I expect you to take initiative. If you keep bouncing things to me, I’m going to wonder why I have you around.
- You should ask questions if you don’t know what to do. On the other hand, you should not have to be taught the same thing over and over again.
- Let’s respect each other’s time. We each have a job to do and the more we can reduce unnecessary interruptions, the happier we'll each be.
- Don't let all of my talk about meeting goals and producing results lead you into unethical behavior. You always have my permission to be ethical.
- If either of us has a problem with the other's performance, let's talk about it.
posted by Michael Wade @ 11:01 AM
58 comments
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58 Comments:
This should be included in every HR package to new hires. Very well said.
Are you suggesting this is a GOOD thing??
Very nice!
That's a really inspired list. Well done.
Can you disclose a little more information about where this is from? Is this real? What type of company was it within?
Great post. I wish I could such a boss in the future when I set up a company :)
If this Open Communication will happen...then every Job will could transform to a Dream Job :)
Basically, treat me the way you want to be treated by me.
Great post
Great post...very useful!! I will utilize it!!
The note is great. Thing which is interesting for me is how employees react for something like that. I mean we usually accept that we are only humans when it comes to judge ourselves, but almost as often we're much harsher when it comes to judge others.
Another thing which makes team's reaction interesting is that boss' honesty pushed so far is very rarely experienced.
If this is an actual memo from a leader to his/her direct reports than it sounds like this person read the book "Clear Leadership".
Thanks for the advice.
I have printed and posted on my door. Thank you for such concise thoughts.
How great it would be if every boss laid down a set of standards like that.
Amazing! If my previous employer had done even one of those things, I'd still be working for them.
aaaah, being humble, a lost art form in corporate echelons
Note from Employees to Boss
Please remember that you are the leader of our group. We expect you to lead, to communicate that leadership, and to take responsibility.
As you ask me to respect your position and skill, please respect mine.
Leadership does not equate to absolute control. If I am to exercise initiative, you must to relinquish a certain amount of control. If you want me to do great things, you have to take the risk that I might screw up, too.
Welcome to the organization. Please take the time to learn what we do, and why we do it, before you decide to change it. Just because it worked at your previous organization does not mean there is a 1:1 correlation at this organization.
Communicate. Consistently and frequently.
I don't like surprises, either. If you're aware of a change of strategic vision that will affect my projects, please tell me. Any news affecting my job should come from you first - not from an all-company bulletin or the rumor mill.
"I was wrong." "I'm sorry." If you can say these two things when necessary, and mean them, you'll gain more respect than you can imagine.
We, your employees, have the power to make you look very good. You have the power to enable us to do so, and to shield us from bureaucracy and management power struggles. Quid pro quo.
Note from Employees to Boss
(several are just copied from the excellent original post)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1a. I am sometimes under pressure from things other than work. I don't expect you to make an ongoing allowance for that but if there are times I need to shift my hours for elder/child care or personal needs I'd appreciate your understanding.
2a. You are my supervisor and your direction is of primary importance but there are occasionally competing instructions from customers, HR, other supervisors and upper management. I have to juggle all of these concerns, because you might not be my supervisor forever.
3a. I may have inherited a number of responsibilites from departures or "internal retirement". As a result, I have had to learn many things through OJT and they may not be the practices you yourself would engage in. I want to be open to suggestions but please understand these are the systems that work for the outcomes I think are necessary.
4a. If you are a former co-worker of mine, I know it's difficult to be my boss but it can also be difficult to leave our former relationship behind and be your employee. Supporting each other is crucuial.
5a. I will make mistakes. Please give me the same understanding that you’d like me to give you when you blunder.
6a. If I do something dumb or am on the verge of doing so, please tell me. Don’t hint. Tell me.
7a. I don’t like to feel that you're not being honest with me. I know that not all plans can be shared but let me in on bad news as soon as possible. (concerns and issues at your level may not be that clear to me. On the other hand, you'd be surprised at few real secrets there are at the company.)
8a. I expect you to know where we are going and why. If you keep asking me for priorities, I am going to wonder why you're being kept around (and by extension myself).
9a. My review should not be filled with surprises and new information. If you want to know something, ask. If you want me to do something that I have not done before, ask. If you want me to stop doing something I have always done, ask.
10a. Please respect my time by not coming to me at 5:30 PM with a critical issue we could have discussed at any time during that day. Emergencies happen but when they happen every day it's not an emergency, it's a way of doing business.
11a. We will occasionally have differences of opinion. In the end you make the decision and we own the outcome together. Please don't take authority for the decision and disown responsibility for the outcome.
12a. If either of us has a problem with the other's performance, let's talk about it.
Yep. Great.
After recently 'morphing' into a management position this list would have been useful.
Getting this stuff over to the team is sometimes easier said than done though.
Brilliant.
very well said....thank you.
Anonymous response from soon-to-be-former-subordinate to boss.
1. I am sometimes under enormous pressure from upper management; pressure that you seldom see. Anything that you can do to make my job easier will be greatly appreciated. No problem: after I take your job, you’ll have a lot less pressure.
2. Your interests are important, but please remember that I also have to juggle the concerns and feelings of a bunch of other people, including individuals outside of the department. “Feelings, nothing more than feelings.” Your boss wants performance not a therapist. When I have your job, he’ll feel much better.
3. I may not have been given a huge amount of training before being named to a supervisory position. As a result, I’ve had to learn through trial and error. That's not always bad. Many of my responsibilities can only be learned through practice. Another way to learn is to observe the mistakes of others and not repeat those. Thanks to you, I’ve had a great teacher.
4. If you are a former co-worker of mine, please recognize that supervising former peers is one of the toughest jobs any supervisor faces. The support that you give me is crucial. I hope you feel the same way about me when I become your boss.
5. I will make mistakes. Please give me the same understanding that you’d like me to give you when you blunder. Yes, you have made mistakes. I understand that we need to make fewer.
6. If I do something dumb or am on the verge of doing so, please tell me. Don’t hint. Tell me. OK, here’s one: you’re over your head.
7. I don’t like unpleasant surprises. Let me in on bad news as soon as possible. (Things that you believe are obvious may not be that clear to me. On the other hand, you'd be surprised at how quickly the latest gossip reaches my ears.) The bad news is: you’re on your way out, and I’m on my way in. I thought it was obvious, but it probably wasn’t clear to you.
8. I expect you to take initiative. If you keep bouncing things to me, I’m going to wonder why I have you around. Speaking of taking initiative, you’re boss was really impressed when I went over your head with my ideas. Impressed with me, not you.
9. You should ask questions if you don’t know what to do. On the other hand, you should not have to be taught the same thing over and over again. Condescension is one of your greatest strengths; but it works better if you’re good at what you do.
10. Let’s respect each other’s time. We each have a job to do and the more we can reduce unnecessary interruptions, the happier we'll each be. Just think of the time you’ll be saving when you won’t have to make lists like this anymore.
11. Don't let all of my talk about meeting goals and producing results lead you into unethical behavior. You always have my permission to be ethical. It’s too late to save me, but when I’m your boss this will be a great attitude for you to have.
12. If either of us has a problem with the other's performance, let's talk about it. I’ll keep this in mind when I do your performance review next year.
think I could get fired if I put this on my bosses desk?
I think this is terrific and honestly, couldn't it really come from anyone, and be addressed TO anyone else? At its core, it's all about being self-aware, communicating directly and tactfully and keeping things in perspective. At least that's my take on it.
~Monica
This post does a great job of capturing some of the things that are generally "invisible" between boss and employee. I can't tell you how often I've heard employees make negative assumptions about their managers, simply because the employee doesn't have all the information about a situation.
I've also heard managers do the same thing. If everyone would get a little more curious about what the other person's world is like, and do a little more listening, lots of disagreements, frustrations and miscommunication would simply never happen.
I want to thank all of you who've posted. There have been some very thought-provoking responses. When I wrote the note - which was written without any particular industry in mind - I was drawing on years of supervision and consulting and felt the note contained points that should have been said by bosses on any number of occasions. The post apparently hit a nerve because, in addition to these comments, I've heard from others in consulting and management. Thanks for your time and thoughts.
Is there anything new here?
Interesting thoughts. I like the angle. Maybe more bosses should have blogs. It would close the gap between employees and supervisors.
Good post, Michael. Having that open and honest of a conversation between a boss and employee would probably eliminate 50% of the problems that arise.
I, like several of the other commenters, wrote an employee's note back to the boss. You can read it on my blog: www.erikmazzone.com
Michael, this is a great post, and I think you can see by all the positive feedback that all of us want this kind of openness and honesty from our superior.
However, to the real brave guy who decided to get cocky about taking Michael's job in your comment titled "Anonymous response from soon-to-be-former-subordinate to boss," here's the reason that you will ultimately amount to nothing:
You're too chicken to put down your name. Do you think anyone reading your rant against Michael respects or supports what you're saying under the name "anonymous?" We're laughing at you. You're a wuss and a snake, and that's what your superiors really need to know about you. They'll find out, ultimately, too - they always do.
I don't know Michael, and I don't know you. Everything you're saying might be warranted. Michael might suck as a boss, and you might be a business genius. But at the end of the day, you lack the spine, the character and the integrity to do something so simple as to use your own name. A small person talks behind people's backs. A big person talks to the person directly.
You are the smallest of small, anonymously posting a response on a blog to someone I assume whose office is right down the hall from yours.
Chances are, you are the soon-to-be-former subordinate because you'll get fired.
There's a fantastic open letter from employees to bosses here:
http://languageincommon.com/downloads/DearBosses.pdf
if only more people in an executive position would realize that treating people with respect along with "genuine" open communication will generate higher loyalty among employees and that means lower overall costs to the business...great list.
"You always have my permission to be ethical." I love that. In fact I love the whole list. Thanks Michael.
great post! really helps bridge the gap between managers and reports.
Michael,
Thanks very much for this - it's great and I will be showing it to most of my team next week. I definitely appreciated all of your insdights here. It's a great example of leadership and anonymous' comments are a great example of what *not* to do; it'll be great to share both examples with the guys I work with.
Like it, nice, just blogged it, top advice: http://blogs.technet.com/mikep/archive/2007/03/03/for-all-those-people-who-think-that-bosses-are-perfect-remember-we-are-all-learning.aspx
I really appreciate these observations. You should know that a number of the blogs that have linked to the original post have also advised their readers to be sure to read the comments!
Interesting, but can you please not copy & paste from MS Word into the web? It makes funny squiggly little characters appear on some people's browsers.
(Use a text editor instead).
excellent!simple but poweful.
will see that all the organizations I am helping on people
processes see this and formulate their own messages.
will be happy to include-
ïf something even on family front is bothering you,let me be aware of it.It will help me understand your feeling in that period.
Nicely done. Your list reveals the empathy we should all exhibit, if we just stopped and really thought about the other person.
Nicely done! Your list reminds me of the empathy we should all exhibit, if we just stopped and really thought about the other person.
I think much of this is lame. It suggests that a boss is just a peer. A boss should inspire loyalty, not just ask it. Yes, we're all in it together, but start with what you're going to do for me, and then tell me what you need in return for us all to succeed. Don't start by telling me that you, too have a boss and your job isn't easy. Unless everyone is paid the same this doesn't fly.
One part that is fair is asking people to bring solutions along with problems.
I love it!!
Very nice and clear, if little obvious.
The lesson then, if there is one, is to understand that you are never going to have the luxury of being pronounced "leader".
That happens after you lead, not before.
I've read this before, but having read it again...this list looks like whining.
Buck up. You got made the boss because you showed an aptitude for it and said YES when offered.
Nevertheless, this is a good list for YOU (the boss)to think about because it exposes your vulnerabilities and what you should give your direct reports in the way of expectations and in coaching to prevent these scenarios from happening.
I'd suggest you do get some training especially in coaching and in the hermann brain model relative to understanding your teams patterns of thought and reactions to workload demands. They are not uniform and are influenced by culture as well as personality.
Don't issue an owners manual to the employees on how to manage you. You need to manage your people.
Best regards
Eric
if only my boss treat me that way, I would treat him nicer
Very interesting thoughts. Maybe more bosses should read this blog. Nice one.
Thanks,bro
Thanks for your nice post!
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