1st Boss: Very loud, everything he says has to be done or someone gets yelled at. He gives me my first assignment and asks me how I will to go about it!, I had no idea where to start, no idea what I should do, people tell me that I will be torn apart. I sat thinking how I will solve it for about 30 mins, could not find the answer, had to close the task on the same day, so I mustered up courage, accepted martyrdom and walked into the Lion's den, I said, "Sir, I don't know how to solve this problem". Boss smiles, sits me down, explains step by step from fundamentals... a lesson I have not forgotten till date. From then on, he was my favorite. I was awed by his practical knowledge. No one dared to challenge him, because, he was never afraid to roll up his sleeve and complete the task without any help. He was fearless and would never buckle under pressure, because he had "been there and done that".
Lesson:
- Knowledge is power!.
- Never show resistance to do what you expect from your team members, when you lead, you lead from the front. If you expect your team to put in 16 hours to complete a task, you be ready to put 20 hours, be available to them, just in case they need anything.
- When team members come to you for help, spend time to mentor them, if you are able to help them, they will be independent soon, which will give you some spare time to add another skill and grow.
- Never be afraid of approaching your boss and saying you don't know or I need help, he cannot take your life, worst case, he can fire you, but you can always find another job...
Lesson:
- I failed because I did not work hard enough and took it easy.
- It is not ok to fail, never be carried away with re-assurances that tomorrow will be a better day, there is no tomorrow if you don't make the best use of today. Don't go to bed if you know that you are going to fail tomorrow.
- You get paid for performance, not potential.
Lesson:
- I learned to find my own solutions to my problems, not go running to my boss for solutions, I learned that by owning up the problem, by thinking hard and trying really hard, we can find solutions to any problem.
- I learned multi-tasking.
- I learned to prioritize.
- I learned to observe how my Boss thinks and be prepared with answers ahead of time. I was careful not to make assumptions using "my bosses' thought process" as a shield.
- Learnt the difference between Aggression and Assertiveness and when to use each.
- To win, you need to set a target better than the current record.
Lesson:
- I did not grow in this set up, I was contributing all my knowledge from my previous jobs into this one, and was not adding any more.
- I was working very hard to ensure that all was well, while someone else was walking away with the credit, it's glory and the accolades.
~o~o~o~
From my experience with all the bosses I have worked for, I hated the demanding bosses the most, but I got to learn a lot from them. They challenged me to do more, and do better, they were never satisfied with what I said or what I did. All suggestions I made were "wrong" and there was always a better "solution" that I was not aware of. Result was that, I was getting better and better and I was growing.
I have also had the opportunity to work for very capable and demanding bosses who used to insult, humiliate and waste time by conducting 8 hour meetings to punch holes in a 5 slide presentation just to demonstrate their power. I got a lot to learn from this type too, but what I learned was what "Not To Do".
Under the "not so demanding" bosses, life was stagnant, I never grew, I never learnt and I failed.
I have realized the value of my demanding bosses long after I left them, but deep inside my heart, I am grateful to all my bosses who pushed me hard, demanded more than I could deliver, it is because of them I am where I am and I do what I do...
Thank you my Tyrant Boss!.
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