Leadership Minute: Rate Your Boss as a Leader
Today’s Leadership Minute comes from Clarke Price, former President, Ohio Society of CPAs and a Founder of the Ross Leadership Institute.
In his classic 1970 book, Up the Organization, Robert Townsend proposed a way to rate your boss as a leader:
Score each characteristic from 0 to 10
My Leader is:
1.. . . . available. If I have a problem I can’t solve, he is there. But he is forceful in making me do my best to bring in solutions, not problems.
2.. . . . inclusive. Quick to let me in on information or people who might be useful to or of long-term professional interest.
3.. . . . humorous. Has a full measure of the Comic Spirit in his make-up. Laughs even harder when the joke’s on him.
4.. . . . fair. And is concerned about me and how I am doing. Gives credit where credit is due, but holds me to my promise.
5.. . . . decisive, Determined to get at those little unimportant decisions which can tie up organizations for days.
6.. . . . humble. Admits his own mistakes openly – learns from them and expects his people to do the same.
7.. . . . objective. Knows the apparently important from the truly important and goes where he is needed.
8.. . . . tough. Won’t let outsiders waste his time or his people’s time. Is more jealous of his people’s time than he is of his own.
9.. . . . effective. Teaches me to bring him my mistakes with what I have learned (if anything) and done about them (if anything). Teaches me not to interrupt him with possible good news on which no action is needed.
10.. . . . patient. Knows when to bite the bullet until I solve my own problem.
Total __________ This is your leader’s rating as a leader on a scale of 0 to 100.
How would your team rate you?
Brad Flurry 