Why I prefer to work with confident managers
Why confident managers? What difference does it make? Let me explain. Studies show that employed individuals spent on average 47 hours a week at work, so if you consider the working age to be between 21 and 60, then we spend approximately 100,000 hours at work during our working life. This average figures represent those people who works 8 hours a day for 6 days a week, but for those who work more hours and days this number can be even bigger.
Now let’s look at how much time people spend on leisure activities; ‘American time use survey’ says that people spend about 40,000 hours during the same period on leisure activities, and they spend about 16,000 hours on house hold activities. So do you get the picture? It means we spend much more time at work than for ourselves. If that’s the case, then your psychological wellbeing at work is as important as your relationship with your spouse, because both have the ability to stress the hell out of your life, or whatever is left out of it.
There are so many factors which influences our mental well-being at work, and one of the most important factor is your manager. If you have been working for a couple of years, and have had the opportunity to work under different people, you will know exactly what I am talking about.
In my career, I have had the opportunity to work with more than 15 bosses so far, and with them I have seen a wide spectrum of management styles. And one thing I can vouch for is the fact that, having a confident boss makes life much easier. Here are a few things I have noticed with confident managers which makes it an absolute pleasure to work for them, when I say ‘confident’, those who fake confidence cannot be counted in.
They are not insecure
Confidence breeds confidence, but insecurity can only breed doubt, fear, jealousy, and suffering. Those people who don’t believe in their capabilities are the one’s who feels insecure, but confident managers are not one among them.
Insecure people are always on guard, hence they are always threatened by others, including their subordinates. Because of their insecurity, they never let people reporting to them to come up in their career, because they don’t want them to match them, or overgrow them. For them, the way to maintain their status quo is by suppressing the people under their responsibility.
On the other hand, confident managers never try to suppress their subordinates, because they never feel threatened by them. Instead they make sure that, people under their responsibility has an atmosphere where they can grow and flourish. You will never see fear in the eyes of people working under confident managers, because they are given the confidence to perform, and to showcase their talent without fear.
They are easier to work with
Confident people have nothing to prove to others, because they are only competing against their own self, and not others. They believe in themselves, their capabilities, and their knowledge. That makes them much more easier to work with. They never have to shout to be heard, because their confidence lets them put across their message without having to raise their voice.
I have worked with managers who were respected and feared across the organisation, not because they could shout, but because their confidence speaks louder than their voice. When they talk they talk a lot of sense, and when it comes to things they don’t know, they ask questions, they lend their ears, and listens. Its easier to have a rational conversation with them, because they have no inhibitions. And their approach provides an easier and secure atmosphere to work in.
They give credit where its due
If you have had to face situations; where you worked really hard on something, and then your boss takes credit for it, with your name being buried deep underground, then you can be sure that you are not working with a confident manager. Confident managers are never afraid of giving due credit to the people who deserve them. They are generous in their praise, and they feel proud when their team members outshines them.
They are natural
There is no faking, acting, or role-playing, when it comes to confident managers. They are always genuine, and natural.
There are people, who when promoted, can act completely different from who they were a day before the promotion. Most of the time it’s because they feel that they need to change their behaviour to suit the new role. They feel that being a manager means only one thing; which is being tough.
They think that you cannot be friendly with people anymore, and they feel they need to deal with mistakes in different ways than how they are used to. These thoughts, and the drive to act different, comes to mind only when you are not confident of who you are, and when you feel you got a position that you don’t deserve.
If a person is confident about himself, and his abilities, then he never have to act different. He never have to fake, because he is natural. He will be very much comfortable in his own skin.
All these factors, and many more, makes it much more easier to work for confident managers. After all, if you spend two third of your life at work, then you deserve to be treated well.
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