What makes the best jobs the best?
I have my theories on the answer to this question, but I'd like you to take just a moment to expand my base of understanding by answering the following questions on the blog's comment section...
1. Have you ever had an outstanding boss? 2. What makes a great boss great?
3. Have you ever had a job you really loved and if so why did you love it?
Thanks for helping expand my world today friends! I'll answer eventually, but I want to know what you all think!
Here's to a growing goodness kind of Monday!
1. Have you ever had an outstanding boss?
3. Have you ever had a job you really loved and if so why did you love it?
Thanks for helping expand my world today friends! I'll answer eventually, but I want to know what you all think!
Here's to a growing goodness kind of Monday!
Posted by Mimi Meredith at 1/25/2010 8:23 AM 
Categories: Life Balance,Leadership
Tags: Best Jobs Career Satisfaction Best Bosses
Categories: Life Balance,Leadership
Tags: Best Jobs Career Satisfaction Best Bosses
Yes, I have worked with an outstanding boss.
He was so great because he trusted me to do my job. He was my publisher, and I was the editor. He did not track my hours or hound me, or do anything to lead me to believe that he did not trust my work. He gave me free reign, and that let creativity in. We worked together when we needed to, however, and he was open to ideas.
He was just really nice guy, a family man, and that helped a lot when I needed to leave early to pick up the kids or had an emergency situation. I worked with him 20 years ago, and we are still in touch. I like that a lot.
That was the job I really loved, and he is why. He made the environment so comfortable and stimulating for his employees. We wanted to be there, and we didn't mind working the long hours when necessary.
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What a great testament to your boss, Jackie. That kind of freedom is rare in the news business. I'm sure that nurturing has led to you being the great writer and researcher you are today. And I few people are happier for your success than he is!
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1) Most of my career has been self-employed, but in on case, I had an outstanding boss. As a bank board member, I have observed an outstanding boss in the person of our bank's CEO.
2) An outstanding boss surrounds himself or herself with capable people and lets them do their job, including providing safe space for making mistakes. He/she is not threatened by people who are smarter than they are, but in fact lifts them up and basks in their accomplishments. A great boss has a balance of heart and head.
I have loved being self-employed, because it has provided me the flexibility to raise children without being conflicted and to pick up the slack when my physician husband had to be on call or at the hospital. Two parents with inflexible jobs is tough.
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Mimi, Great questions!
I have also been self-employed almost forever. However my last boss was Elease at New York University. She was fantastic. She taught me valuable business and communication skills.
More importantly, she recognized and taught me a lot about myself -- that I love to learn new things and need variety. She also happened to get me involved in teaching which has been a common thread throughout my career.
So a great boss "gets" their employees, knows how to get the best from them and to the extent possible, uses their strengths to benefit the business.
One of my self-employed friends says she now has the best boss and the best employee. Maybe so, but if not, you can change it! I sometimes ask entrepreneurial audiences if they would choose to work for a boss who is as demanding as they are -- that usually gets a knowing laugh.
Debbie
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What a great question to pose to your audiences, Debbie! Today, I'm going to look at self employment in a new light--thinking about what kind of employee/boss I am and how I can improve that relationship! Thanks to you and to Elizabeth for the insights for those of us working for ourselves!
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The best boss for me is one who does not micromanage, but is available to provide intellectual and emotional support. The best boss I had was Dick Snell at Ramada, because he was the CEO and didn't have time to overmanage, but also listened to my suggestions and supported me. Obviously, I think those two qualities make a great boss great, plus inviting you to express all of your gifts and talents, and encouraging you to take risks. The job I really loved was as a contracted executive director for Community Celebrating Diversity because I so believed in the organization's mission. I was able to use my leadership abilities and worked with caring people, for the most part. Mostly, it was because I believed in it and could contribute and make a difference.
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To me, the best bosses are those that provide a learning and growing environment for their team. Give them opportunities to succeed, coach them when they need asssistance, let them learn from their mistakes. Praise them in public, provide constructive feedback in private. And BE AVAILABLE.
I hope I create that type of environment at my business.
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Love the idea of public praise and private constructive feedback! Great comments from the folks of the bloomin' blog community...who, I'm guessing, are phenomenal bosses of themselves and others!
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I've been fortunate to have a couple great bosses. (I've had TOTAL disasters too!)
The great bosses were the ones who did not micro-manage. They trusted me to do the job I was capable of doing. They allowed me to use the very traits that were evident when they hired me, the ones that were the reason they hired me.
I also loved bosses with a sense of humor. For example, my first or second day working at a fixed base operation (FBO) at Scottsdale Airport, my boss stopped by to ask how I was doing. It had been super hectic and busy and I said I was getting a crash course.
He smiled at me and said, "Never say 'crash' at an airport..."
That set the pace for the remainder of the time I worked there.
I've had a lot of jobs I loved. And it may have had more to do with who I worked with than what I was doing. But the best ones are the jobs that allow freedom of thought, creativity and collaboration.
I once worked for a horrible company that made you request a bathroom break. while I was there I shared an office with another girl, and she liked to play the radio quietly. One day we came into our office and the bosses had come in during the night, taken her radio and locked it in a closet.
I mean...seriously?
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