For something completely different, Rebeca shares three really good insights she gleaned from bosses that were… well, not always her favorites. These are basic concepts, but it’s always a good idea to revisit foundational truths and think about how they apply not only to business, but also to all of life.
Good Lessons From Bad Bosses
Do you have any good lessons learned from bad bosses? Let us know what your favorites are.
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi guys, it’s Rebeca with BrandTrue. And today I want to talk about something slightly different. It’s not really about naming, it’s not really about branding. It’s about some lessons that I’ve gotten that have made a big influence on me, not only in business, but in life. And interestingly, they’re all three from different bosses. I’ve had good bosses and I’ve had bad bosses, but all three of these lessons are from bosses that were not the best for me overall, but I took away some great things.
So the first one is a boss who would always say, “what is our objective?” And that was of course in the context of strategy and brand, but I use it for everything in life. She was right. I think about, “what do I want to wear to such and such a thing? Well, what is my objective? What am I trying to communicate?” I mean, even in such a trivial context, it’s really, really helpful. The second one is a boss that, again, a mixed bag we’ll say, but he was crystal clear on this idea: strategy is choice. And it made such a big impression on me that I actually had a student and mentee have it made into a little framed thing that I have in my office. Strategy is choice. The idea that you can’t just have all options ahead of you, you’re going to have to close some doors to pick one to walk through. Again, helpful in business, helpful in life. And the third one, I wouldn’t call him a bad boss, he was a wonderful boss, but one that was very, very difficult for me because I was young, I was early in my career, and I wanted more praise. I wanted more feedback. And this is just not anything he had time for. So it wasn’t a phrase, he didn’t say this in so many words like the first two, but what I learned from him was we don’t do it for the praise, we do it for the excellence. We do it for the satisfaction of doing the best job that’s within our power, which means that sometimes we do it again and again and again until we’re happy. And it made a big influence on me, again, in work, but not only in work.
So I don’t know, I just got a wild hair to share these lessons with you guys. Let me know what you think. Thanks. Bye!
