Leading With the Right Kind of Boss
A lot have been written on how to choose the right employee for a particular job. How about considering the idea of reversing the situation, that is, what should an employee look for in a “boss?”
According to studies, executives who manage creative employees fall into opposite categories, such as:
There are the supremely secured executives. They often project themselves like the head of the family. They regard creative employees with a mixture of awe and gratefulness. These are executives who are in total control of the financial and administrative aspects of the job are able to look at risk dispassionately. They do not only take chance on a wild idea proposed by a creative employee but will shrug-off the consequences of failure if the ideas did not prosper. These executives are considered as the best employers for creative employees.
There are the compulsively creative executives. These executives are likely to supervise an equally gifted subordinate than as an ally. Success in a job is not always a consideration in these executives mental list of priorities, nor failures. They are strictly go-for-broke. They are a joy to work for but since they are likely to be poor judges of what risks are worth taking and what are not, their failures are sometimes spectacular as their successes, and, when heads roll, their subordinates will be among them.
There are the worst executives. These are the executives who have limited imagination and are hesitant in taking chances. They manage people with iron hands, listen only to their own ideas and feel threatened by any subordinates who shows indications of creative ability. Their idea of success is not to make mistakes.
