THEY MADE A MISTAKE - HIRING MY BOSS PART 1

I’m amazed at how often I hear this scenario!  Garrett my boss is a micro-manager and she gets offended if I push back or question her on any thing.  I have found that employees who are micro-managers and who take offense when questioned or challenged lack several important qualities, mainly Humility and Maturity.

Let’s talk humility and I’ll pick up on Maturity next time.  As you may know already if you have read Hire on a WHIM, I define Humility as the ability and willingness to learn.  Did you catch that definition?  Read it again slowly and see if you agree.  Employees that can’t be challenged lack this quality, sometimes altogether.   Lacking this quality has a devastating impact on morale and productivity.  Morale is crushed as fellow colleagues or direct reports realize that their opinions and ideas will always play second fiddle to the boss.  So the ideas rarely get expressed.  It is devastating to productivity because fellow colleagues and direct reports wind up taking the safe road for fear of being taken to task.  These Humility lacking colleagues live by the saying “The nail that sticks up gets hammered”.  This means rich discussions cease and innovation comes  to a grinding halt because you no longer can question, just do.

Yes someone did make a mistake and hired your boss so what are you going to do?  Most likely they will not change so either get used to it or look for other opportunities.  If you want to make some lemonade out of this then use it as a great learning opportunity.    Learning what NOT to do as a manager is as important as learning what TO do.  So look at it this way, you are on your way to becoming a great manager.

You can see all too intimately why Humility is a non-negotiable and is essential in every hire, especially leaders.