We’ve all been there. We’re stuck working for a doof…I mean an ‘ineffective leader’. Our boss is the king of the dodo birds! The person that constantly makes bad decisions, protects his turf, and takes credit for all of you work. We get so much more done when they’re gone. Well we’re certainly not alone. In fact, Gallup finds that companies fail to choose management candidates with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.
So what do you do? While we’d love to tell the ‘powers that be’ and get them fired – in other words get a new boss. That’s usually not an option. Regardless of our situations, the true limitation to our performance isn’t our leader, it’s our own attitude. Remember your leadership is as much your disposition as it is your position. After all, you’re not responsible to fix those people above you in the organizations (or use them as an excuse). Your job is to add value to the company. You need to do your job regardless of the circumstances.
What you can do is…
- Develop a solid relationship with your manager.
- Identify and appreciate their strengths.
- Commit yourself to adding value to them and help them leverage their strengths.
- Get permission to develop a game plan to complement their weaknesses.
- Expose them to good leadership resources.
- Publicly affirm them (or at least their efforts).
When we do these things we partner with our manager to be a more effective leadership team, helping them be more production and allowing the team to achieve their objectives. Helping our leader understand and leverage their strengths, helps them become more personally aware of how they should be investing their time and where they need to improve their skills.
As a key leader we need to remember our team is watching us and how we handle the situation. We are role models for each person on our team.
Question: How have you handled situations where you’ve needed to report to an ineffective leader? What have you learned from the experience?
