Does your boss have a dog house? No, not the kind that he keeps his Black Lab in. I mean does he need to keep someone in the figurative dog house all the time – the one you go into when you are in trouble?
Woof
I have worked for several bosses that keep a dog house. They seem to need to keep someone in the dog house to stay focused. They target a person or an area of the business with all of their energy, and as long as someone is in the dog house, everyone else is just fine.
Sit!
I remember working for one such guy. He was one of the meanest people for whom I’ve ever worked. He was belligerent, insulting, and had a very short fuse. When he would get upset with anyone, they basically went in and stayed in his dog house until someone else messed up. I remember spending almost all of my spare time working to stay out of the dog house. What a waste of time, but it did make me better.
So, how do you stay of out of the dog house?
First, keep to your commitments. If you sign up for or are assigned a project with a date, hit that date. Don’t make excuses for not being able to get it done. Work late if you must. Plan your work, and work your plan.
Psst…Bill, did you hear?
Second, don’t trash your co-workers. I have seen co-workers try to deflect responsibility for their own challenges to other people or other departments. While that may get you some breathing room for a little bit, it will in the end put the target on your back. Take the high road.
Third, own your mistakes. If you think you are going to be late, or have made a mistake, fess up and soon. Meet the dog house owner head on and take the whipping. That one move may keep you out of the dog house only because it shows integrity.
And remember, one “awe shit” wipes out ten “attaboys”. Do not rest on your laurels. Just because you have done great work in the past does not mean that you will be forgiven for not meeting the deadline of the project or expectation of quality. I remember reading a tee shirt from Nike that said “Somewhere, someone is practicing longer than you.” Spend an hour more on your project than you wanted to and it will look even better than what you were going to submit.
Click here to Subscribe to Direct your career! by Email
Let me know what your experiences are!
Mike
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Arie Rich/KMP Blog ツ and Jamie Bennett, Mike Anderson. Mike Anderson said: Your boss’s dog house http://bit.ly/datUMK [...]
Hi Mike,
Interesting post. I agree with you. If a person who is a supervisor needs to keep someone in the “dog house” so to speak, then the energy required by an employee to stay out of the dog house is nothing but a big waste of energy. Let alone time. The best type of boss a person can be is one where they can help someone reporting to them surpass them. In today’s world, after 150 years since the basic beginning of the industrial revolution, the era of the ‘control all knowledge’ and ‘ensure/instill fear in your employee’s’ is slowly (but surely) coming to an end. I’m glad it is, because the less time a person can spend on covering their behinds, the more time they can focus on the issues/opportunities at hand. The more time they can be allowed to explore other alternatives for ways to get the work done right. The more time to actually begin enjoying coming into a job situation because they are making a difference!
Thanks for taking the time to post such an article.
Gil Pizano
http://gilpizano.com
Your boss's dog house…
Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……