Three signs of a cool boss

Published by Ryan Healy on December 5th, 2007 in Career Development, Work | 33 Comments

It's not easy to be a good boss. Managers are responsible for nearly unattainable results, multiple daily meetings and managing their employees.

With all of this responsibility it's hard to blame a manager for not being the world's best boss because; after all, results move you up the ladder. I can see why the actual managing part is not always priority number one.

But happy employees are productive employees. The most successful managers understand this and put their people before everything. Here are three signs of a cool boss, from a Gen-Y perspective.

They take an interest in your career

Sure, it makes total sense for a manager to take an interest in your career within the company, but a great manager takes an interest in your ENTIRE career.

The best conversation I had with a co-worker at IBM was at lunch one afternoon with my boss. He asked me point blank:

"Do you see yourself working as a consultant for a while?"

For some strange reason, I felt totally comfortable replying:

"Actually, I really don't think so. My goal is to start my own company."

Then he replied and told me that he had a feeling I wanted to be an entrepreneur because every time I spoke about my brother or my friends running companies, I was really excited. We discussed the pros and cons of entrepreneurship versus corporate life, and the best age to start a company. It was great.

This was important for two reasons. For one, my boss actually listened to what I had to say in our past conversations. Secondly, he did not try to convince me to stay in the consulting field or with the company. He took an interest in my ENTIRE career, and I have great respect for him because of that.

They ask for feedback

I recently spoke with Globoforce CEO, Eric Mosley. Globoforce is a forward thinking company that provides online employee recognition programs. For example, if an employee goes above and beyond at work, a co-worker or manager will send them a "thank you" award. The award may be a gift certificate or any number of small gifts.

One of the best parts of these recognition programs is that they provide a means for two-way feedback. Not only can my boss thank me for putting together a great PowerPoint presentation, but I can thank her for taking the time to help train me in SAP.

This two-way feedback is great, but a cool boss will take it a step further and provide me with consistent feedback, both good and bad. And, most importantly, she will ask for feedback. After all, who better to analyze your management skills than the people you manage?

They are your friend, at work

This may be a uniquely millennial trait, but I believe your boss should be your friend, at work. A great boss will do whatever he can to find common ground with his employees. When you're trapped in an office together for 8-plus hours a day, it's important to take breaks and just "shoot the shit" with your boss every once in a while.

I used to wander over to my boss's office and poke fun at his favorite football team, the Steelers, for losing a big game last weekend. He would then make a crack about Penn State being terrible or the Patriots choking in the playoffs the year before. These conversations were really important for our work relationship.

No one wants all business, all the time. A cool boss understands this and finds common ground with his employees. That being said, I've come to realize that it's dangerous to cross boundaries and become close friends outside of work. A good boss understands this and makes a point to keep the friendship at work.

I'm sure there are a ton of different criteria that can make someone a cool boss, but these are my top three. What do you guys look for in a boss?

A Millennial's Muse — Part 8: The Beginning of the End of the Beginning

Published by jackiedc on December 5th, 2007 in Humor, Work | 6 Comments

Here read the true tales of a young twenty-something cubicle dweller by day – dreamer of "there's got to be more than this" by night – trying to find the moral of her everyday story. Walk with Jackie down cubicle lane every Wednesday as she humorously shares the pitfalls and high points of moving to a new city for her first job, building a life post 5 o'clock, and searching for meaning in every crevice of her stu-stu studio.

Dear Fellow Millennials,

"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning."
- Ivy Baker Priest

I shared with you last week the departure (massacre) of Dark-humored Dan and subsequent drastic changes to my daily tasks, namely that they were multiplied by 253.

Luckily, my salary didn't change. But I did have to adapt to working in a three-person department where my other two co-workers were 4-5 rungs higher than me on that timeless corporate ladder metaphor.

I felt invigorated to have meatier work to do (though it wasn't in an industry I had affection for), and I knew that Magnum was proud of me for stepping up to the plate. But the deluge of work felt like it would soon be the end of me (or was it just a new beginning?). I appreciated the learning curves (never a lover of curve balls – who can catch them?), but they came at a pace that left me with corporate stretch marks and growing pains. Reminder: my company had a turnover rate exceeding 25 percent.

A hedonist at heart, I looked elsewhere for kicks and giggles.

Love Hurts. So Does Magnum.

In the early days with Dark-humored Dan, we had a mission: Operation: Get Boss Laid. You see, Magnum was a 45-year-old divorcee and single mom who had few friends (all of whom were married) and feared being alone forever. Her romantic frustrations manifested into behavior similar to that of a rabid animal (quick to snap, prone to biting, always up for "heated" conversations).

With our personal safety in mind, Dark-humored Dan and I thought it best if Magnum found a boyfriend. Soon. Like yesterday. Luckily, she met someone online and all of our lives improved…for awhile.

Much to my regret, Magnum was single again, Dark-humored Dan but a memory and I walked around wracking my brain thinking, "Who can I get to shtup my boss?"

Kickball

I joined an adult co-ed kickball team that played near the Washington Monument on the National Mall. The team was for University of Florida alumni, so it was a great way to meet people and immediately have something in common; it felt like a big family of extended cousins (except when necking was involved).

The game was not the mirror image of the version played as a kid; they pitched the ball violently – it bounced (and zigzagged!). So, seeing the difficulty my teammates were having kicking the ball, I made a request when I stepped up to the plate:

"Excuse me…"

No response from the pitcher, because I'm probably the only person/fool who invoked "excuse me" in drunken co-ed kickball.

"Excuse me, Pitcher…"

He then looked my way.

"Umm, can you pitch it gently….yeah, I like it gentle (shrug of my shoulders)."

He was amenable to my request for gentility and even offered to be gentle with me in other "games" that he alluded to. Yes, chubby pitcher with an under-bite, you're exactly who I want to wake up lying next to.

My stellar performance during that game was documented in the weekly kickball newsletter (Holy cow, thinks the girl who was always the last one picked for sports teams in elementary school).

Sibling Woes

For young professionals who share a city and genes, the sibling dynamic can change when you're both no longer going to the movies or out to eat on your parents' dollar. At least this became the case with my older sister, Julie.

Julie turned out to be a cheater. When both people's entrees cost a similar price, it makes sense to split the bill – this my sister agreed with – but when it came to dropping the green, she often said, "How about you put $20 and I'll put $10?"

Sometimes Julie would get creative with her attempts at chicanery like, "I got a parking ticket today…do you want me to be broke?" Who has the entry-level job here?

Another practice (in theory) was to take turns: I got one meal, she'd get the next. Guess who kept playing dumb when it was her turn?

Playing School, For Real

"Hi, I'm Jackie. Happy Thursday." And so began my stint as a volunteer English teacher to speakers of other languages. The world of TESOL – my new stomping grounds. Nothing felt better than being addressed as "teacher" [T-churr].

I taught grammar (that I first had to re-teach to myself the night before class) and life skills to immigrants one night per week. Unfortunately, because I am a subscriber to Jackie-speak, those well-meaning people walked around DC using words like woah, neat, super fun, yikes, and geez Louise.

Lasting lesson – For many of us, we learn what we do/don't like about our full-time job, but it's not enough passion fodder to know exactly what else we'd rather be doing. While helping others (balm for the soul), volunteering can also help you discover what you do/don't like beyond the material for consideration within your regular job. Volunteering can also be a way to moonlight before quitting your current job to pursue something you think you would like to do.

Cross your T's and dot your I's,
Jackie