Here’s how Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman describe the question behind their article, “Will Your Bad Boss Make You a Bad Boss, Too?”
“Do people who work for terrible leaders turn out to be terrible leaders themselves?”
I prefer to come at that question from the other side. Do great bosses spawn more great bosses? Does it help an aspiring leader to work for a great leader? In my experience the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
In my supervisory skills training, we asked every new supervisor to identify the best boss they ever worked for. In every organization, you heard the same “bests” again and again. It was common for half the people in a class from the same company to name the same best supervisor.
I decided that there were leadership trees, similar to the coaching trees that sports fans like to discuss. Some great leaders spawn other great leaders. Here’s how I think it works.
Great bosses demonstrate that leadership is a noble undertaking. Bad bosses make the job look horrid.
Great bosses provide powerful positive role models. Bad bosses can only show you what not to do, they can’t show you how to do it right.
When you think of talent and leadership development, pay attention to the role of your best bosses. Make sure lots of people have the opportunity to learn from them and be inspired by them. Use them as examples of what to do.
Those great bosses have a powerful impact. Here’s something Chris Edmonds wrote last year about his “best boss ever,” Jerry Nutter.
“Everything good I do today – as a husband, parent, team member, and consultant – is immensely influenced by Jerry’s coaching, humor, high standards, and love of service. My understanding of high performing, values-aligned teams came from my experiences on teams lead by Jerry. My ‘great boss’ tweets all stem from what I learned from Jerry.”
