Learning from boss

Ever since childhood, we want imitate the elders we adore. It could be a parent, teacher or sibling. That imitation provides an opportunity to learn. As we enter work life, we encounter seniors who are closely associated with our work. While imitating them, we develop technical skills as well as skills about how to interact with people, how to report progress, and how to get work done in the organizational context.

There maybe significant mentors/coaches/influencers, but the ‘boss’ has a distinct role to play. Here when I mean boss, it may be boss or 'super boss' i.e. someone further up in the hierarchy. During my research, I observed that a significant number of leaders quoted events where the boss initiated or influenced the development of the leader. And in the case of SME leaders, it was observed that SME owners miss out this channel of learning as they don’t have such a boss. In this research, I also observed the role of external seniors such as a 'consultant' or 'significant person from client' sometimes bridged this gap and such SMEs benefited from such influence. Every superior's - be it a “good” boss or “bad” boss - interaction with their subordinate involves learning of some kind for the subordinates. What is learned depends on the context, perception, ability of boss to influence and the situation. Why are bosses so often mentioned as sources of significant lessons? Possibly because they have the authority to directly influence the daily lives, and often, the career advancement of those who work for them. In our study, we observed that leaders felt the influence of the boss most vividly when they were in ‘fix it’ situations, when their work scope changed (enlargement of job), and when they had committed a mistake.

The relationship with the boss has many perspectives that are critical, such as boss as manager, boss as a coach, boss as a role model. Each of these has direct influence on the kind of learning. This relationship has a human touch, and at times even awe, when the boss holds a charismatic disposition. When I talked to leaders, some of them directly benefited from the interaction with their boss, while some leaders observed the boss’ actions towards others and the learning was through observation. Some of the bosses gave managers opportunity to try new things, some provided room to make mistakes, some gave visibility, some were experts in their area of specialization, others were warm, friendly and cooperative.

Interestingly, as leaders learnt from a good boss, they also learnt from a 'bad' boss. I have interacted with leaders who described their bosses as dictatorial, bosses who are micro-managers intruding into details of every decision, bosses who believe that all subordinates are incompetent, bosses who cannot effectively cope with relentless pressures etc. What they learned from these experiences was ‘what not to do’. Difficult bosses become useful teachers precisely because their behavior tends to be so consistently difficult to manage.

But not every subordinate of the boss learns from the boss. So I pondered over what would enable such learning. I found three aspects. First, the skill of the boss to guide. Second, the context and opportunity. And third, the willingness of the subordinate. In this article, let me focus on how can the boss guide the subordinate.

To begin with, the boss should go beyond the transactional role of getting short term targets met. Managers are paid for enabling people to do work. Managers should do this by asking people what hampers them, listening to their answers, constantly challenging them to think about improvement, acting as a resource and supporting their growth. The combination of authority, and the supervisor’s availability and willingness to work as a coach whenever required, is the best combination to learn.

The boss has to develop the ability to analyze ways to improve employees' performance and capabilities, plan mutually acceptable action, create a supportive/helping climate, and influence employees to change their behavior. These abilities imply a learning curve for the boss too. In our workshops, we play a game on delegation. Every one knows about delegation. In the workshop, the participants quickly elaborate the 'right' process for delegation, the reasons for why we should delegate and why one does not delegate. But so far, (I have played the game so many times) we almost never observed the leader in the team delegating, even when it was a trivial classroom activity. So, the boss has to deal with the anxiety, stress associated with development of subordinate.

The boss also has to understand personal context. So often, I have encountered leaders who try to guide the people based on what worked when they were young 25 years ago. But the situation changes, the preferences change, the approach of the new generation is different. The disconnect in this regard leads to disinterest from the subordinate.

Another important aspect is how much to coach and where to leave the person alone. I have personally seen bosses who spell out every possible detail. The idea is that why let the junior waste time in what I already know. But often, such spoonfeeding leads to disinterest and disengagement. Letting go is not just about delegation but is also about providing room for discovery.

Development requires commitment from both the manager and the employee. Each employee in the workplace is a unique individual. Each person may need, respond to, or value developmental encouragement differently. Encouraged development starts with an understanding, followed by a commitment. There are several times when someone else knows how big of a mountain you can carry, and but you yourself don't. Others see a lot of capability in you and this drives you to stretch yourself.

When I think back, I wonder how I helped someone learn. And I realize that I could have done better. I always felt committed, almost like strict mother when it came to developing the juniors. But my perspective of development went beyond transactional growth only at a later part of my life. I guess that happens with most leaders. Learning to develop others is also a learning process.

As I mentioned earlier, SME leaders really suffer from not having a boss. A boss who could ask difficult questions, a boss who could provide timely feedback, a boss who could encourage when things are not working out.

Deviating from earlier posts, this time I did not touch on the issues of why we don’t learn from the boss. In some other article, I plan to ponder over the idea of why don’t we learn from our relationships – the people whom we are closely associated with - be it a parent, teacher, spouse, boss or even children. 

For now, let me know your feedback and happy learning!