Larry Bossidy

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 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">The Idea in Brief</h4>
 <div class="ideainbrief-contents">
 Relationships between bosses and their subordinates figure strongly in any team’s success. When those bonds are working as they should, they drive performance and growth over the long haul. Yet while the leadership literature specifies actions bosses should take, it says little about the actions leaders should expect from their followers.
 How to promote effective leader-follower relationships in your team? Former AlliedSignal CEO Bossidy advises forging a boss-subordinate compact that defines a mutual set of crystal-clear expectations.
 For example, as a direct report, you’re expected to offer your creative ideas. Your boss wants to hear them, because even seemingly crazy ideas can spark spectacular successes. As the boss, you’re expected to tell your people where the business is going, why, and how they’ll benefit if they accomplish key goals. This clarity helps people see how their jobs contribute to the enterprise overall.
 When each side fulfills its part of the boss-subordinate compact, your team and company benefit.
 The Idea in Practice
 The boss-subordinate compact spells out additional expectations for both parties:
 <h2>As a Subordinate…</h2>
 <ul>
 <li>Get involved. If you’re a manager, step in the moment someone falls behind with his commitments, when an interpersonal conflict crops up, and when a crisis erupts. And deliver bad news to your boss yourself.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Collaborate. Overcome differences between you and others so you work together effectively—even if you don’t like each other.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Lead initiatives. Don’t be reluctant to associate yourself with unproven ideas, especially those that cross functional or unit boundaries. Raise your hand, and you’ll climb the ladder faster than those who don’t.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Develop your own people. Take as active an interest in your employees’ development as you do in your own—if not more. Go out of your way to criticize and praise your people when they need it. And get directly involved in performance reviews, supplying people with specific, candid, and useful feedback.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Stay current. Regularly read and watch the news. What happens in the world affects what happens with your team, your marketplace, and your competition. Also know what’s going on with your customers—how they’re changing, how their competition is changing, and how technology and world events are affecting their strategies. Your customer relationships are key assets: bring them to the table.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Drive your own growth. Seek perpetual education and development—not necessarily by going to school but by finding exposure to new people and ideas. Seek feedback from your boss, and accept demanding assignments.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Be a player for all seasons. Demonstrate positive behaviors even during hard times. You’ll sustain your ability to motivate and inspire your own people no matter what’s going on around you.</li>
 </ul>
 <h2>As a Leader…</h2>
 <ul>
 <li>Define specific goals for your people. Specify the achievements you expect from your employees as a team and as individuals, as well as what they are going to be measured on over a given period. You’ll help them decide where to invest their energy and time.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Be available. If you expect your people to stay up to date and keep you informed about what’s going on, be accessible when they need to see you. And don’t come down on them if they bring you bad news.</li>
 </ul>
 <ul>
 <li>Compensate employees fairly. Ensure that people understand how the compensation system works, and that they’re rewarded for specific contributions to goals you’ve laid out.</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</article-ideainbrief>It’s well understood that the relationships between a boss and his or her direct reports are important ones and figure strongly in the success of a team. Yet while much has been written about character traits and issues of openness and trust, the leadership literature has had strikingly little to say about what a leader should be able to expect from his people. Over the years, I’ve observed that certain behaviors, on the part of both the subordinate and the boss, are conducive to productive and rewarding relationships. Indeed, I’ll favor someone who exhibits the behaviors I expect over someone who doesn’t, even if the latter’s numbers are slightly better, because I know the former has the potential to contribute more to the organization over time.

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Reprint: R0704C
The success of an executive team depends heavily on the relationships the boss has with his or her direct reports. Yet the leadership literature has had little to say about what is expected in those relationships&#8212;on either side. Larry Bossidy, formerly the chairman and CEO of Honeywell, and before that of AlliedSignal, shares what he calls &#8220;the CEO compact,&#8221; detailing the behaviors a leader should look for in subordinates and what they should be able to expect in return.
A CEO&#8217;s best people, he says, know when a situation calls for them to get involved. They generate ideas&#8212;remembering that some of the best ones may sound crazy at first. They are willing to collaborate, putting the long-term good of the company above short-term goals of their divisions. They step up to lead initiatives, even if the outcome is uncertain. They develop leaders among their people, especially through direct involvement in performance appraisals. They stay current on world events and anticipate how those events may affect the company and its competition. They drive their own growth by exposing themselves to new people and ideas and by accepting demanding assignments. And they sustain these behaviors in bad times as well as good.
On the other side of the compact, the boss should provide clarity of direction; set goals and objectives; give frequent, specific, and immediate feedback; be decisive and timely; demonstrate honesty and candor; and offer an equitable compensation plan. Executives who aren&#8217;t lucky enough to have such a boss can create a compact with their own subordinates, Bossidy says, and demonstrate by example. The result will be to improve team and company performance and accelerate individual growth.

What Your Leader Expects of You

Reprint: R0704C The success of an executive team depends heavily on the relationships the boss has with his or her direct reports. Yet the leadership literature has had little to say about what is expected in those relationships—on either side. Larry Bossidy, formerly the chairman and CEO of Honeywell, and before that of AlliedSignal, shares what he calls “the CEO compact,” detailing the behaviors a leader should look for in subordinates and what they should be able to expect in return. A CEO’s best people, he says, know when a situation calls for them to get involved. They generate ideas—remembering that some of the best ones may sound crazy at first. They are willing to collaborate, putting the long-term good of the company above short-term goals of their divisions. They step up to lead initiatives, even if the outcome is uncertain. They develop leaders among their people, especially through direct involvement in performance appraisals. They stay current on world events and anticipate how those events may affect the company and its competition. They drive their own growth by exposing themselves to new people and ideas and by accepting demanding assignments. And they sustain these behaviors in bad times as well as good. On the other side of the compact, the boss should provide clarity of direction; set goals and objectives; give frequent, specific, and immediate feedback; be decisive and timely; demonstrate honesty and candor; and offer an equitable compensation plan. Executives who aren’t lucky enough to have such a boss can create a compact with their own subordinates, Bossidy says, and demonstrate by example. The result will be to improve team and company performance and accelerate individual growth.

What Your Leader Expects of You

Summary.

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