Managing Up

12The Hands‐Off, Absentee, Ghost Boss

“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

 

Confession Time

I tend to be a bit of a Ghost Boss myself. As an introverted workaholic, I often get completely consumed with my own projects and will frequently go days without having any substantial conversations with my team. For the most part, my team enjoys the independence that this affords them on individual projects. However, there are also times when my ghosting causes confusion and bottlenecks. My staff has done a great job of taking ownership of managing this dynamic. They have taken it upon themselves to request, schedule, and pin me down with regular team meetings. They know how to get my attention if a matter is urgent – they text me. They know how to keep me in the loop on stuff that is not urgent – they e‐mail me. And when they need something that requires a quick conversation – they call me. When they need a lengthier conversation, they put themselves on my calendar. They know that I am more receptive to longer conversations in the late afternoon after I've had time to make a dent in my own to‐do list. I suspect they have even figured out that if they want to pitch me a new idea or ask a favor, they should call me after 6 p.m. when, chances are, I'm sipping my evening glass of sauvignon blanc. The point is, my team learned my style, and they manage up accordingly. ...