The Boss & The Three Letters

A few days ago on the AMlive TV show the topic of discussion was, How do you feel about your Boss? Now that is the kind of topic that really gets me fired up. I have been fortunate to have been in Management or "The Boss" as it is sometimes called for many years and have learned from the best as well as the not so good. I believe without any doubt that you learn What to Do from the good boss and What not to Do from the Bad and Ugly Bosses thru the years and so you eventually create your own management style that should be the best from all worlds.

The Bottom Line Is, it's not easy and can be unrewarding but it's always been my passion no matter what the challenges. When I resigned and handed over the reigns to my Second in Command after four years of mentoring and sharing my experience, I left him with  the following document called "The Bottom Line". It's by no means the Alpha and Omega of Management but it is what I practise and believe in with all my heart.

So here goes and any comments welcome even if negative. Whether you are the Boss or one day will be the Boss this is it in a nutshell.

The Bottom Line

• Create a culture and atmosphere within the organisation condusive to people feeling acknowledged, developed with opprtunities for growth

·      You are the Captain and the bug stops with you. The life and well being of the crew depends solely on you. You must fight for them to ensure you get them their just reward.

·         You must have a strong vice captain to help you carry the load. You will have your days of doubt when he must assist you thru troubled waters.

·         You are responsible for the people who work for you and have to act accordingly

·         You can not be your predecessor. You have to define your own style of management

·         You will be challenged, tested and have to stand fast.

·         You have to lead by example in order to be respected by your team and your piers

·         Look after the performers and get rid of the non performers. Surround yourself with the best if you want to be successful

·         You have to constantly adapt your management style to suite the situation

·         Conflict management is part of your everyday job so you better be good at it

·         Know when to fight and when to stand down. You can loose a battle but win the war.

·         You will constantly be judged by your superiors, piers and staff

·         You are nobody’s friend. Know where the line is between personal and work

·         Your success depends on the team so look after them when they perform and guide them when they do not.

·         Balance between work hard and play hard

·         Make a mistake once and learn from it. Never twice

·         Learn how to and how not to from other Managers and Senior Managers to build your own management style.

·         Nothing will ever just be smooth and easy. To overcome the challenges is part of the reward and fun.

·         The reward for hard work is more work. Not just for you but also the team. The stars get given more responsibility because we trust them.

·         You are human and will make mistakes

The story of the 3 letters.

When a new manager took over from his predecessor he asked what he should do when the Sh.. t hits the fan. The outgoing manager gave him three letters and said he should open number 1 then 2 and 3 every time he faces serious issues.  Sure as hell not a month after the old manager left a serious situation transpired so the new manager opened letter one. It Stated “Blame the system” which he did and got away with the problem. Some months later another problem and letter 2 opened. It Stated “Blame your predecessor” which he did and all was well.

When he faced another serious issue some months later he finally opened letter 3

It stated “ Write 3 letters and hand to your successor.”

The moral of the story is "Don't blame your problems on something or someone else" Solve them yourself else you will not last long.