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Be Forever Loyal and Faithful to the Boss
In this day and age, it is not uncommon for people to have multiple jobs, work for multiple organizations, or have multiple bosses over time or throughout a career. Moving from one job to another is common, and it can be good for you both personally and professionally.
But with that mobility comes challenge. Getting to know the ropes, getting into a routine, and getting to transfer loyalties are responsibilities that go with a new job.
Learning a new culture isn’t so difficult in most cases, nor is adapting to a new routine or even a new dress code. What is difficult in some cases is transferring loyalty from one boss to the next.
Before you take a new job or are assigned to a new position, it helps to ask, “Is this a good fit for me?” If it’s all about money or title, it may not be. If you’ve asked yourself whether this “dream job” is truly for you, you’ve taken a good first step. If you don’t have a choice because of the transfer of either you or your new boss to the organization, the challenge may be greater.
Either way, you need to invest yourself in the new conditions in which you find yourself. Part of that investment is being loyal and faithful to what and whom you have inherited.
Make a case with the new boss that will convincingly prove your value to him or her. Your professionalism will go a long way toward gaining the boss’s confidence in you. If you impress the boss early by knowing what he or she cares most about, you will be off and running.
A lot of what you’re striving for is trust. But you have to give before you can expect to gain that trust. This is the key to building a winning relationship with the leader to whom you are responsible.
That starts by getting to know him or her. Learn what the boss has set for goals and apply functional excellence to help achieve them. Learn to think like the boss so that it’s a good fit. Be all you can be.
If you are in the position of high responsibility on the hierarchical ladder, you need to influence others in positive ways when there is change in their lives too. You have a responsibility to encourage their loyalty and faithfulness to the organization and the boss. You must set an example.
What if you have two or more bosses with very different personalities, different temperaments, or different management styles? You need to be accepting of those differences, and it’s up to you to work with whatever demands come with them.
Like everyone, bosses have their imperfections, even their limitations. Nevertheless, they deserve respect, understanding, support, and allegiance.
Transferring loyalty and being faithful can work in reverse. If the new boss isn’t convinced that you are trustworthy, loyal, and faithful, you may be the one who is under scrutiny.
This happened to me. In just a year I had built a firm and durable relationship with Admiral William J. Crowe as his special assistant. When he announced his retirement as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I had to make a decision to move on or take a position with the new chairman, General Colin L. Powell. It wasn’t my decision alone to make, for Powell knew of my friendship with and closeness to the admiral, and I sensed that he wasn’t confident that I could transfer my loyalty to him.
I underwent the test he imposed. He summoned me for an interview. He asked some tough questions about what I could do for him and how I would do it. Since a new chairman can hire, fire, or bring staff with him, this was not a pro forma proposition. Fortunately, I passed and he chose to retain me as his special assistant. As it turned out, the relationship lasted for the next 13 years, during which I worked for him in several capacities.
I pledged to myself every day that I would continue to earn his trust and confidence, for he had given me his. I vowed never to let him regret hiring me. That is the two-way street that seniors and subordinates should travel together. You should view it as a partnership in which you are seen as an indispensable part of the management team.