I consider my self to be very self motivated when it comes to work.
Even if I had lost faith in the organisation and fallen out with my
line manager my professionalism would not allow me to just go through
the motions. However there were some managers I worked for who really
got the very best out of me. Managers who I really wanted to do it
for. They were very different individuals, so what was it they had in
common that made me react so positively?
To say they “inspired me “ is an over used expression however they
all had strong values that I wanted to adhere to. Two of them had a
rebellious streak that I could relate to. Yet another was quite
conservative, keen not to rock the boat or upset anyone. In marked
contrast to one of the rebels who divided option and was happy to do
so. One dressed like a senior manager and had an air of gravitas the
other didn’t and had a strong regional accent that coupled with his
hair cut reminded you of a night club bouncer, all be it a very polite
one. One was an excellent networker, a completer finisher. Another
was a passionate innovator. One believed in taking people at face
value unless or until they let you down, and people did. Another was a
very astute judge of character who instinctively knew who to trust and
who was just saying the right things. One couldn’t understand why
anyone would not like them or would not trust them and was probably
far to trusting themselves.
They all showed faith in me and my abilities. They all gave me a
feeling that I had freedom to act and they would back me if things
went wrong. They were also prepared to be very direct with me if they
felt I abused their trust . I considered each one to be a mentor as
well as my line manager and treated them as such long after I had
moved to other posts.
So for me the manager I wanted to do well for was the one whose
values I shared , who recognised my abilities, trusted me to do and
say the right thing and whose support I could rely on.
Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk