One of the side conversations that happened while I was moving "the kid" was about loyalty and leadership.
You might have a boss who looks like warthog, is of a different race and religion and (is rumored) to have bizarre habits behind closed, bedroom doors: But if he/she/it puts the mission first and takes care of the team (and defends them from zhitstorms generated elsewhere), that boss will have a loyal team.
Conversely, you might have a boss who is handsome/beautiful and is an Elder of the church you attend and be Mister Straight-Arrow: But if he compromises the mission for political or career-advancement reasons, if he leaves team-members dangling and refuses to adjust "rules" in family emergencies, then that boss will NOT have a loyal team.
THose outcomes are the opposite of what advocates of Identity Politics believe will happen. It doesn't matter if a black, gay-dude is working for a red-neck or vice-versa. Demonstrate leadership and take care of the team and the team will be loyal to the leader. Exploit the team's good-will for anything other than The Mission or helping a fellow team-member through a rough patch and the loyalty will evaporate.
That is not to say that teams are loyal to "leaders" who let members shirk the mission. The mission does not go away. It gets shifted to the non-shirkers. That is a case of robbing Peter and rewarding Paul. But bad things happen and everybody needs a break SOMETIME.
Former Sr. NCO (E8) here.
ReplyDeleteOne of many things I learned is "loyalty only works both ways". Management, both military and civilian forgets sometimes then gets surprised with absenteeism, poor quality work, job-hopping, and other maladies.
Also management can never, ever get away with sugarcoating or dishonesty to lower ranks. Once that's gone, it's gone forever.
One example, our squadron commander pulled us all into our main shop. His words, ' folks, I'm telling you in advance for this exercise, you're going to get screwed over. I'm sorry, suck it up, I will make it up to you'. We did, and he did.
Alan E.
A word search of the New Testament (just use the AV, it's reliable, unlike the modern ver$ions©) examining exhortations to servants and masters is useful here.
ReplyDeleteLoyalty up and down is hard to find today... sigh
ReplyDeleteA good boss is a treasure, don't abuse it. Being a good boss is a lot of work and often abused by his-her supervisor.
ReplyDeleteOnce or twice, I was told so and so was a bit queer (back when that was bad). I said I know but that one was an excellent soldier and doesn't make troubles about sexuality so back off. Performance and reliability were my goals in the Operating Room.
Being a good boss is a lot of work. The amount of interference they run and the amount of buffering they provide is unknown to many unless you see it in action.
ReplyDeleteThis only happens when the "team" cares about the "mission".
ReplyDeleteI believe John Boyd used to tell his proteges you can be someone or do something. My worst bosses managed up at all times and rarely got anything accomplished. They never failed, it was their team that was the disappointment no matter how stupid or misdirected was their leadership.
ReplyDeleteThe best bosses new their job as well as yours and listen to input to get the job finished. They passed the praise down the ranks but kept the nit picking and micromanagement from above to themselves.
A good boss doesn't have to be your friend, but they do need to be reliable and trustworthy.
I've just started my first supervisory position and it's been really busy.
ReplyDeleteI've got a (mostly) great team.
My goal is to be open and consistent with them.
I've had some bad bosses in the past and am working to not copy them.
Jonathan
At my last position, one of my guys asked me where I'd learned to be a good boss. I told him that I'd had a lot of bad bosses, and simply decided that when I was the boss, I was going to do the opposite from what they did. Worked. I hope they get asked the same question one day--and tell the questioner that they model me. ;-)
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