Who influenced you and who are you influencing?
Many of us have had a nightmare boss and mine was someone who was an absolute bully. I still shudder when I think about him. He had no regard for people's private lives or personal needs whatsoever. He was just such a dreadful bully and tragically somebody actually died on his watch.
What a lesson I learned. I vowed that I would never, ever treat people in the same way.
Another way
Many years later I worked with a small SME who showed me what a company’s culture could be like. The management had a strong ethical position which they wanted to reflect throughout their business. The company, ABA Design valued each individual person so strongly that it was quite a shock to me. They recognised that each individual person was a critical part of that organisation. The consequence of having such a caring, together, team was that they benefited from having very low staff turnover. They had invested a lot of time and money into those individuals and those individuals stayed with them and gave the company their best.
Furthermore there’s space for companies to have a social conscience today. In fact I think it’s something that customers look for and can engage with as part of the brand value. It's something that can strongly encourage team building too. I have seen some of the organisations I work with do things like fun runs, or working for the community. People give so much to the organisations they work for and if those organisations have a social conscience, it really helps their teams to be fulfilled in a whole new dimension.
Oh, and one other thing – about that nightmare boss: A while later when I wasn’t working for him any more, I found myself having a drink with him and took the opportunity to tell him exactly what I thought of him – that felt good. Then two days later he was appointed as my boss again – that felt bad!
Ali
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