"Buy Your Boss?"

Don Blohowiak of the Lead Well Institute asks, "Would you willingly pay your boss -- out of your own pocket - for the help that he or she provides you?" (read his article here)

Don also says, "If you aren't sure if your colleagues value you so much they'd gladly pay for your services, ask them. And listen closely to the answer. If they say they would pay you, ask why -- understand the value you deliver. And if they would not, ask what help you could deliver that would be worth paying for."

I think the underlying question is even more profound: do 'leaders' at work even consider themselves people who provide a service? In most cases, they see themselves as people in power over subordinates, rather than people in power to HELP subordinates.

Again, as I've said earlier, we need to take a systems view, so that leaders ask these questions of themselves automatically. And if they don't, subordinates are automatically empowered to ask their leaders these questions.

(Email me your comments cvdhruve@gmail.com)