Page 212 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

You Manage Your Career and Don’t Let Others Do It • 193

■ Gets promoted faster than his or her peers.
■ Invests in you and coaches, trains, and mentors.
■ Will just as quickly give you a “pat on the back” as a “kick in the
butt.”
■ Will actively sponsor you.
■ Constantly communicates.
■ Is visible.
■ Has work/life balance, and understands, supports, and pushes
you to have it too.
■ Has worldly awareness.
■ Isn’t jealous of you and won’t hold you back.
■ Doesn’t worry about “covering his or her rear.”
■ Has good people skills and is liked, trusted, memorable,
impressive, credible, comfortable, and charismatic.
■ Has professional demeanor.
■ Is decisive.
■ Has great processes to learn from.
■ Understands work politics.
■ Thinks before talking.
■ Doesn’t fear making mistakes.
■ Asks lots of questions.
■ Wants to see you successful.

My boss would always provide cover for me if I needed it.

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My boss would drop everything no matter what kind of meeting he’s
in and get back to me on the phone within five minutes.
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I was a junior guy, and I made a decision—a very bad decision. My
boss got called on it in a board meeting in front of everybody. “How
could you let this happen?” they demanded. He said, “I screwed up.”
He took the heat for my mistake right there, and I’ll never forget that.
That’s a good boss. I learned a lot from him.