Anonymous Boss Check-Up

Hello! If you're human, and you have ever worked for a boss of any kind, and you feel like investing 4-6 minutes of your time, I recommend completing this anonymous online form: https://forms.gle/xqqP58bYzDr8gSSW9 - picking a good, bad or somewhere inbetween boss you have had. 

You can fill it in for multiple bosses.

The benefits are:

1. For you: seeing your boss in new ways, and developing more space/distance/time between your boss and your organisation. This extra space will help you for the rest of your life either picking a new boss, working more effectively with your current boss, or being a boss yourself.

2. For me: the data you and other respondents around the world are submitting, are landing in a big spreadsheet that has been very useful to analyse and come up with insights I never learned in a textbook, classroom or through my own experiences as boss or team member.

3. For everyone: I turn the insights into public posts on various platforms, attempting to reach and help different folks who have these kinds of challenges and would be helped by receiving some insights and tips for the situations they find themselves in.

Thank you in advance for helping yourself, me and the large community that is growing around this initiative.

Team Member Tips for Manager's Bias, un-Equal Opportunity and non-Rewards

Inspired by REAL Anonymous Boss Feedback (last Wednesday Data Drop https://lnkd.in/eMFFanwR)

In this post's data-led insights, I sow on hard ground. Data or not, team members who experience any of these 3, or combo of them, are not performing at their best. Worse, from anecdotes I hear, boss biases are extending into the neurodiverse spectrum:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (those who chose their management well, or got lucky with being inherited by the good)
🌟 2 in 3 have unbiased bosses
🌟 2 in 3 have bosses who give equal opportunities to all demographics
🌟 2 in 5 have bosses who reward with promotions and prizes objectively
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱
😱 1 in 3 feel boss is in self-denial and is biased
😱 2 in 5 feel boss is in self-denial and is gender biased
😱 2 in 5 feel boss sometimes rewards objectively
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆
😱 1 in 10 feel boss is obviously gender biased
😱 1 in 10 feel boss rewards friends

𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆?
🦠 Anger / cynicism / disengagement / fear / disgust / distress / unsafe / superficial team building / clock watching?
🦠 "𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿" - 𝗔𝗗(𝗛)𝗗 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗦𝗗

🫣 Leave! Leave! Leave! 

But sometimes, it's not possible to go immediately. And sometimes if you stay long enough, they will leave before you...

So today we're looking at survival strategies in a toxic environment. These improve your health for the whole of your life, whether you end up staying because you can happily and magic happens, or you end you leaving because you do land a better job and manager elsewhere. 

✅ 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆
The famous "growth mindset" works! Step into it, every day, all day, intentionally! You have a context, a clear cause, and you can focus on a few conditions to intentionally make changes.

✅ 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵
Grow and protect your energy levels. We need more than air, food, water and sleep. Develop your "life affirming essential" rituals - and practice daily.

✅ 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀
Be listened to - tell them what's going on, how you are feeling.

✅ 𝗦𝗮𝘆 "𝗡𝗼" 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸
Learn and establish your boundaries, based on your own needs, prioritise your own holistic health.

✅ 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀' 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀
Differentiate your boss as a person from their mindsets. Name the mindset in a question - "Can I check something with you? It sounds like you have a strong belief/attitude towards [some label]? I'd love to understand you more - are you ok to talk about it?"

✅ 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱
Grow a movement, leading by example the above tips.

💬 Share thoughts below. 👇

Manager Tips For Biases, Equal Opportunities and Rewarding

Inspired by REAL Anonymous Boss Feedback (Data Drop #7 https://lnkd.in/eMFFanwR): 𝟴𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 >𝟭𝟬% 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 📈 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱!

In this post I'm looking at three key performance drivers: 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝘀, 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱. Now imagine - what happens to team dynamics if you as manager are seen as biased, unfair, and inconsistent with rewards? What if all three go wrong?

𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 says:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 🥳
🌟 2 in 3 say their boss is unbiased and gives equal opportunity
🌟 2 in 5 say rewards are fair and objective
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱
😬 1 in 3 see bias their boss won’t admit
😬 2 in 5 sense hidden gender bias or inconsistent rewards
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆
🚨 1 in 10 see clear gender bias
🚨 1 in 10 say rewards go to friends

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗱 & 𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆:
🔬 Isolated, unnoticed, stressed, hyper-vigilant, lonely, eating alone
🔬 Fake laughs, filtered feedback, a sense of unease around you 24/7. Sleeplessness
🔬 Disconnected from most of the team - relying on an “inner circle” to tell you how "the rest" are really doing
🔬 Regular "desirable" churn of “under-performers,” but no actual performance improvement after they leave

𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 "𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳"?

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦. But perhaps there's just one piece of insightful feedback "the system" gives you that gets you thinking. Or, you consider yourself to be a good manager, so you pause and reflect as a healthy habit.

💡 𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱" 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺
The ego makes it seem all is well, even when it is not. It always protects your "good mood" by finding reasons in the external world why those people are the way they are, and that you're fine.

💥 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
You never hear the real truth.
"truth does not talk to power". Consciously or not, people can't.
Your mindsets operate sub-consciously to prevent you bringing truth fully into your consciousness.

𝘛𝘙𝘠

🧠 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁
Where are you creating exclusion zones, exclusive groups?
Do you stereotype? Do your friends? Are you okay with that?
Where do you prejudge?
Who did you reward? Any biases present?
Who is saying things you agree with?
How often do you change your mind due to others' opinions?

🗣️ 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
Watch your inner voice and speech for these kind of phrases:
🗣️ “I am not <some label>, BUT” or
🗣️ “I have no problem with anyone, except”

🫵 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂
Engage a depth coach.
Run the Anonymous Boss Checkup - see if you pass >80%. Find your weaker areas, improve them, save your company a tonne of money, make your team hyper-performant. Feel great, because you are.

💬 Share thoughts below. 👇