This was a Thanksgiving holiday I will surely not press
amongst the pages in my scrapbook. First on Black Friday while everyone was
cramming into the nation’s retailers desperately seeking discounts, I was stuck
in a tire center for 6 hours waiting for a wheel alignment and struts to be
installed on my VW to the tune of $800.
Then, just to make the weekend complete, I came down with
the flu and have been virtually bedridden for the past five days. So, as anyone
who is mired in their bedroom for long periods of time knows, eventually cabin
fever begins to set in.
So, thinking about the topic for my weekly blog I figured
out during my working life I have had, give or take – roughly 37 direct
reports. No that’s not a misprint, 37.
I reflected on what I took away from each of them and
naturally, depending on their leadership qualities and job competence, it
varied from person to person. Some were absolutely career changing, while
others made a contribution here and there. Some management tenures were
short-lived and still others were fortunately not around long enough to display
their obvious shortcomings.
But I can honestly say that there were only two direct
reports in my career that I gleaned absolutely nothing from, and both were and
still are destined for anonymity. Not to be petty and vindictive but good
riddance!
And the lessons I learned as it turns out did not have to
be complicated.
