"Boss Management" FAST Company, April 1999

FAST Company April 1999

"Boss Management"

Mark Maletz is a principle for McKinsey and Company in Boston, Massachusetts. He talks about the employee fable of "How to Manage Your Boss" and how it really can be counter productive to yourself and your organization when you think you're smarter than everyone else. According to Maletz this idea may times creates the romantic illusion of the lone leader of change, taking innumerable risks, walking to the edge of the cliff, heroically dragging the resistant boss or the rest of the unwitting organization behind him. Maletz says, "Beware the Legend". This is not the way to accomplish change, especially in Extension. Change occurs best when a team of people are involved who freely exchange ideas and who share success and failures.

Maletz thinks the real key in effecting real change and managing your boss is to realize that you yourself did not just stumble across this brilliant idea at one moment, but instead did this over time. It was a process.

I thought this sounded like transformative learning. In fact, so many articles and concepts I have read or heard about in the last several months have many components of transformative learning.

Maletz says when your boss doesn't understand your ideas immediately, don't become visibly upset or negatively label him or her. That attitude will abruptly hinder any possibility to get your point across. I believe this would be a power move to try to transform them to your way of thinking and is usually not very effective.

Instead, recognize that your boss has to go through a similar journey of understanding that you traveled to "get there". I thought this was an excellent example of transformative learning in the workplace. Maletz felt "self-discovery" is much more powerful than any preaching from on high or from below. He felt if you help your boss discover what you are proposing, you'll find you won't have to waste time maneuvering or dodging.

Maletz again utilizes many transformative principles with positive results. His ability to develop good relationships, tear down barriers and develop a real trusting and positive environment creates a wonderful opportunity for learning and change.

I believe he has been able to stimulate his bosses to critically reflect on their methods, practices, and assumptions. By implementing this process a learning environment has been created where people trust each other and are willing to self-exam and self-reflect for positive change.

I would think this process also fits us as Extension Educators. Program delivery that initiates self-reflection and self-knowledge would undoubtedly have more impact. If we can transform the learning process that we sometimes use or as Maletz calls preaching from on high, to a transformative one where intellect, spirit, trust, and will are all components. We then can develop a very highly effective learning and business environment.

--James B. Nesseth (jnesseth@extension.umn.edu), October 18, 1999

-- Anonymous, October 18, 1999