Does Your Boss Fear Your Strengths?
I still remember my first job review. It said, "You need to pay more attention to your primary responsibilities." At the very end, it included mild praise for my initiative on a project beyond the scope of my assigned job.
My assigned job was typing donor names into a computer. To this day, I can remember most of the zip codes in the Boston area because we would type, say, 02138 and up would pop: Cambridge.
By going "beyond the scope" of my actual job, I eventually got out from under a boss who saw my initiative and other abilities as threats.
People like me write a lot about bringing out talent in other people, but the hidden obstacle to doing that is when someone views your talent as a threat.
In objective terms, the best way to manage a high-performing team is to hire people who have talents that the manager lacks. But here's where it falls apart. It's easy for a sales manager to hire an IT support person who's better than s/he at IT. But it can be difficult to hire someone who is much better at selling.
Let's face facts: bosses can be threatened by subordinates who are better than them at their primary skill.
(More on this in a second...)
But it doesn't have to be this way. When you encounter a significant talent, the best thing you can do is to create space for that person to thrive. In this manner, you create a win/win situation. The talent thrives. Your team thrives. You thrive.
Yes, the day will come when that talent either leaves your team or takes it over. But that is not the talent's fault. It would be your failure to develop your own strengths, such as bringing out talent in other people.
No one builds a great career by slowing other people down. This is only a short-term tactic that eventually creates sub-par teams.
By the way, did you notice what I did?
The headline of this piece asked whether your boss is keeping you down. Unfortunately, the answer may be yes. But this doesn't mean that you are immune to this flaw. Starting with "(more on this in a second)", I switched to focus on your mindset.
Having the courage to make room for other people's talent is an acquired skill. We all need to cultivate it, even you.
Bruce Kasanoff helps professionals like you find the right words to advance your career. Learn more at Kasanoff.com.
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8 年I was let go from a position once due to the fact that although my "boss" hired me for my experience in the field, once in the position she was threatened by the very experience she wanted the person in this position to have. The only way she could legitimately let me go was to build a case that I wasn't doing what she asked. She was right...I did more than she asked. Can't win when the person you work for can only hang on to their position by undermining those under them.
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8 年Thank you Bruce Kasanoff! Excellent article as always! It is great to be able to notice and feed other people's talents. Other people's success need not threaten ours.
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8 年No.
Sr. Assistant Professor of Applied Chemistry,The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
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