Who you Work for Is More Important Than Where you work

Who you work for is much more important than where you work.

It's revealing how people perform remarkably differently working with different leaders. The same person who is a struggling performer under one person can be a star performer working with another manager. Does this mean the person morphs, or his capabilities zoom through, within a short period of time?

Yes and No.

1. Different managers use different primary lenses of encouragement & freedom OR micro management and doubt, as they deal with people. The choice of lens impacts how they treat and nurture people (or not), which in turn either drives a high standard of performance or a complete disinterest from their team members. Often, how we view people is how they end up behaving - if you show trust and encourage someone, they are more likely to step up to meet your expectations than if you treat them as incapable.

2. Identifying and playing to your strengths is pivotal in one's career, and that's what a good manager helps with. He/ She increases the odds of you performing to your potential by placing you in roles that play to your strengths and deliver value to the organization.

3. Exceptional managers realize that there is no one size fits all approach. They don't deal with people how they want people to deal with them, rather they work with different team members based on what works for them individually. Someone needs a carrot, while someone else may need a push.

Our managers can often be the biggest (and sometimes the only) spoken person of our professional achievements, representing our case in front other stakeholders (be it for a hike/ promotion/ recognition/ or other opportunities). I wish we did as much diligence about who we work for, as we do about companies we work at.