I have worked with a lot of bosses in my career so far.
Good bosses.
Average bosses.
Terrible bosses.
And in almost every case, the difference between the worst and the best was their openness to hearing opinion before making their decision.
The best guys didn’t do it because they wanted to be liked … they did it because they wanted to make the right decision and they knew this could only happen if they welcomed the voicing of opinion upfront.
Of course, by adopting this approach, it also meant they would disappoint some and please others … but to them, that was acceptable because it was a byproduct of them being able to make more informed, more effective decisions.
Real decisions.
Decisions with bite, purpose and vision
Decisions they believe in rather than abdicating their responsibility to consensus.
The worst bosses were almost entirely opposite in their approach.
These people would do all they could to ensure breadth of opinions were never given a chance to be heard. And for the record, I mean opinions from other senior, experienced colleagues … not every Tom, Dick & Harry, which can be equally as dangerous if not handled correctly.
That would mean they’d have lots of private meetings with only their most trusted of aids in the room or they’d simply hold back on announcing their decision until the last possible moment so no meaningful change could ever take place.
If those bosses were geniuses, it might have been easier to take, but almost universally, the people who adopted that stance were scared, incompetent and racked with self-doubt.
Great bosses understand letting people be heard is a vital component to job satisfaction.
People are more accepting of disappointment if they feel their counsel has been courted or their opinion heard.
Of course, this is not always possible, but funnily enough … the best bosses I’ve ever worked with, have always found a way to make it happen.
I hope you’re working with people like that because they make you feel involved, connected and alive.
And that helps you become better than you thought you were or could be.