Monday, May 07, 2007

Ten Things I Have Learned Not To Do From My Boss's Boss

1. I will never tell someone I need to have a serious discussion with them and then refuse to schedule that discussion for two weeks claiming that I am too busy but that it needs to be dealt with before other things can be talked about.

2. I will never apologize for something I am not sorry for, promise to work on it and then promptly forget that I have made the offer.

3. I will not tell two people to do the same thing and then be upset when they ask me who should be doing it.

4. I will hold people only accountable for things that they have actual empowerment to handle. I will hold everyone to these same standards of acountability not letting people off the hook just because their personality is likable or they are my friend.

5. I will never assume I know what happened, be angry about my assumption and then hold it against you even after I am proven wrong...siting it again later and then having to be reminded that it was already handled.

6. I will never train someone to be a leader and then ask them to follow. This includes promising things I can not deliver, giving and taking the same responsibilities from the same person over and over and being contradictory just because I can be.

7. I will never expect someone to hold a leadership or human quality that I can not maintain myself. I will not be like the parent saying "do what I say not what I do". I will not ask people to do things that waste their and my time just because I can.

8. I will never praise someone for something and then reprimand them for the EXACT same thing a year later. I will criticize when at all possible quickly and in person and praise people over long periods of time and in writing.

9. I will not throw someone under the bus, call them out or reprimand them in front of others they are trying to get along with in a difficult situation.

10. I will not frustrate an employee, when at all possible, to the point that they have to blog about 10 things not to do that I do.

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