…Bosses were not so touchy-feely.
…No one cared about your motivation to do the job. It was expected that you were motivated when you arrived.
…Results mattered more.
…When company or sales meetings occurred, if you had not studied or learned your ’stuff’ you were called on the carpet. Or shown the door.
…Fairness and opportunity reigned supreme, but the performers still ate first in the lunch line.
…A company was harder and tougher than college, not easier. Preparation and study were expected.
…Personal relationships were not defined by flickering messages on a two-inch screen.
…Your errors made you look dumb or ignorant, not protected.
…There were ‘nice’ bosses, but they depended upon someone who could give an ass-chewing.
…If your boss said do this or that, this or that got done.
…There were no excuses given, nor expected.
…You were expected to do your job, pats on the head were given for extraordinary performance.
6 users commented in " Used to Be… "
Also used to be…
…employers rewarded loyalty with loyalty.
…accepting a job meant that employees could count on it as long as they worked hard.
…employers valued employees who had worked there for decades, instead of firing them because they were too expensive.
Sadly, not everything is as it used to be.
Yes, it is most definitely a two way, mutually beneficial relationship that all of us miss.
Both sides are to blame and can fix it.
Does “Used to Be…” describe you as a boss? You are kind of a throwback and I mean that as a compliment!
One thing strikes me, though. I am doubtful that those bosses as a whole were nearly as self-aware as you have become. Some of those boss / worker relationships gained structure at the price of creative expression.
I am thinking you act out the qualities you list…but in a much broader and more dynamic interpersonal context than the old days.
Smiling…yep, used to be. And as Katie commented, that used to be, too.
That was the social contract. Leaders would lead, followers would follow. Both would trust the other to do what’s best for the group, both of them. leaders would see where we needed to go; Followers would trust their vision, their decisions on how to get there.
And the ass-chewing and carpet calling…were fair, if not unpleasant. And there were clear and consistent directions, and tools, to avoid that.
It was a good model, in an ideal setting. Even in non-ideal settings…
Somewhere along the line that trust was broken, deeply.
And the ass-chewing now is because you didn’t help that executive get their bonus, just before you were laid-off as that same executive had outsourced your job.
And the employee leaves their motivation at home, as they know there’s no long term job security and the company won’t invest in training new skills or acquiring new technologies.
And the employees bunkered into silos, functionally and emotionally, for their own protection. And reinforced management’s impression.
Dug ourselves a deep whole. But…we’ll dig ourselves out of this with leaders like yourself and blogs and free speech and social media and innovation…accountability and transparency.
Thanks for the post. Thanks for the comment. I’ll be reading your blog every day, also.
Stay warm.
Welcome Zane, thanks for stopping by. I am not really commenting on the positives or negatives, just remembering and educating. Historical context always helps us.
Interested readers should stop by the blogs of these three: wwww.levintel.com, http://zanesafrit.typepad.com/ and http://www.getfreshminds.com/
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