Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes
Standing in line, anxiously waiting to pick up my Starbucks latte, I scan the cafe for my appointment, Jacob. There he is! We decide to take our caffeine fixes upstairs to a quiet spot in the community reading room in Barnes & Noble. As I often do in my discussions, I ask, “Have you ever worked for a wimpy boss?”
“Yes”, he nods with that knowing smile.
“What does a wimpy boss mean to you?” I inquire.
“It is someone who is afraid to take action,” he says.
“Can you give me an example?”
He sits back in his chair, transporting himself back in time. “I used to work in a call center or telemarketing sales organization. There were rows and rows of cubicles. I had been the on job for about three weeks and I was already bringing in sales.
I spent very little time in training with my boss, so I felt good that I was producing quickly. As I am making calls, I hear the boss’s assistant coming around to other cubicles berating the staff in a very loud voice. After she leaves the area, the employees snicker, so it was John’s turn.
I wonder who is next. One day, she stops at my cubicle and begins to discuss my performance elevating her voice for the room to hear. At this point, I feel my temperature rising, thinking, who is this person to talk to me in this way? My voice begins to respond in kind.”
“How did that work for you?” I asked.
“Quite well, especially when I began to ask her the same questions she was asking me. As soon as I brought up her performance, she immediately shut down the conversation” he said.
Article by Lynn Dessert
Lynn Dessert is an executive coach and training expert on cognitive development and personal effectiveness - facilitating behavior change for individuals and teams. Clients consult her to design and deliver HBDI leadership development programs and career minded individuals engage her for personal development. Lynn is the author of Elephants at Work and owner of Leadership Breakthrough, Inc. specializing in Executive, Leadership and Career Development. Start your discovery process by contacting her at 585.249.5149 today.
Lynn has written 299 awesome articles for us at Elephants at Work
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