Here's how you can enhance your own leadership skills by leveraging your boss's expertise and guidance.

Most Indian organizations are extremely hierarchical, so most often people hesitate to reach out to their bosses, and feedback is usually top down. The key is to have open, informal relationships in the workplace, managers need to be approachable, and open feedback needs to become the culture. I would encourage people to set up a cadence with their managers, to update them on their on projects, as well as to seek feedback. This will serve them well - to make necessary tweaks in their approach, if necessary and to keep learning an on going activity from their managers.

One thing you could do is set up a formal coaching and mentoring partnership with your boss. This would involve: 1) Agreeing development goals, which describe what skills, knowledge or attitudes you'd like support with. 2) Setting a series of meetings. Once a month over 6 - 12 months is usually enough. 3) Agreeing boundaries, so that questions, feedback discussions and reviews are limited to the meetings, otherwise it can become onerous for your boss. 4) Getting organised and setting yourself up with a learning journal where you collect your questions, thoughts and outcomes.

As leaders we must be willing to cooperatively create, love with impressive empathy, possess positive deviance, and daily unleash our Yearn!!

They say that feedback is a gift! So seeking feedback is like asking for a gift, and should be approached that way, and should not be demanded! Some managers are not comfortable with direct confrontation and struggle with giving constructive feedback. Ask for a check-in quarterly and express your desire for real time feedback. Use the check-ins to review real time feedback and solicit if progress has been observed by the manager. This also forces the manager to notice.

Instead of simply observing and copying your boss, focus on understanding why they make certain decisions or handle situations in a particular way. This approach allows you to assess and adapt their strategies to effectively handle various situations.

Asking questions about bosses' actions is also crucial because it reveals the reasoning behind their decisions, uncovering their core values. By observing and inquiring, you can begin to imitate your boss’s effective behaviors and decision-making processes. This imitation is not about copying blindly but about internalizing the principles and strategies that underpin their success. By understanding why your boss makes certain choices, you can adopt similar strategies that align with the company’s mission and culture. This approach ensures that your leadership style is not only effective but also authentic and values-driven. It allows you to lead with a deeper understanding of what drives successful leadership in your organization.

L’observation et l’expérimentation sont 2 moyens super efficaces pour apprendre. L’exemplarité d’un dirigeant permet de monter tous les managers d’un cran, dans les outils manageriaux mais aussi dans leur posture.

Staying curious, asking questions, and expanding knowing are key skills to remaining neutral and open to ideas, suggestions, and actions we may not fully understand and then possibly contract, feel threatened by and then defend against. When we defend, we are not open to hearing, learning and growth. By remaining neutral and curious/open about workplace experiences, decisions and strategies we open our minds and broaden our thinking about what is possible outside of individual frames of reference and knowing. Creativity then extends from curiosity!

Asking questions demonstrates curiosity, engagement, and commitment to understanding the company mission and your boss’s role. It shows your willingness to learn, helping you gain insights from your boss’s experiences, decisions, and leadership philosophy that go beyond textbooks. Engaging in dialogue about challenges and successes aligns you with the company’s goals and ensures your efforts contribute meaningfully. This approach also fosters stronger relationship with your boss, and helps in your continuous improvement, and your deeper understanding of team dynamics. It also enhances your ability to contribute effectively and follow your boss and the company's mission at full speed.

Asking questions and listening actively are a pathway to learning and building stronger relationships. Within leadership, getting to know your followers is key to effective collaboration. Showing interest and asking questions allows you to connect with them on a deeper level, as well as gain valuable insights into their assumptions and what motivates their behaviour. It is a powerful development tool that can inspire reflection and empower action. What is more, approaching what we do not understand with curiosity, rather than judgement, can build trust and open a dialogue, which are especially important in modern environments where cultures, backgrounds and generations mix.

Rather than trying to impress with your amazing knowledge and ideas! Listen! Become curious about what you can learn. Ask questions about what is not being said. Dig deep! What is important? Why is it important? How has the strategy been developed? Listen to stories, build connection. Understand their perspective before pushing your own.

Focus on the synergy that arises from combining various competencies, which can only be fully realized during close collaboration. This process enables your boss to recognize the unique contributions you bring to the table. Furthermore, you can highlight the outcomes of your joint efforts, showcasing how the fusion of your distinct skills and those of your boss results in achievements that wouldn't be possible otherwise. When other colleagues witness the results of your collaboration, it can have a break-through effect in the entire company. The successful outcomes can inspire to seek similar collaborative opportunities, and foster a culture of teamwork and innovation, lead to higher efficiency, and improved morale across the organization.

Most important when we reflect is to consider the 'why'? Understanding our ethical and moral reasonings and beliefs behind our actions/non actions uncovers the why. By being curious about our unique theoretical underpinnings we are more able to mold our way of being and acting as managers and leaders. What matters to us most drives our behaviours and actions, so by asking those questions of ourselves: why did/or didn't I do/say/act is an important aspect of reflecting.

Reflection is vital in coaching as it deepens understanding and fosters self-awareness, and personal growth. It helps identify patterns, recognize emotional shifts, and understand how feelings influence actions. By acknowledging courageous actions, reflection reinforces positive behaviors and encourages further risk-taking. It turns experiences into learning opportunities, and allows clients to evaluate what worked well and why, and also apply these lessons in the future. Reflection empowers clients to find their own solutions, and helps them build resilience and autonomy. This process mainly leads to sustainable change as well. Reflection helps clients benefit from coaching’s transformative power. Remember to apply it all with your boss!

Apart from being a pathway to self-awareness, reflection is the most powerful learning tool. By reflecting on what you’ve heard, experienced or observed, and how that applies to your unique situation, you engage with this new knowledge and make it your own. In that way, any experience can become a long-term learning opportunity. Reflection plays a vital role in coaching as it allows you to identify your patterns and blind spots, as well as better understand your drives and needs. Having a clear perspective on who you are and what drives your behaviour has transformative power, and is absolutely crucial for effective leadership.

There is no curriculum for Leadership Development - it’s a deeply personal and ongoing process. It’s all about reflection and thinking critically about what you observe around you. It is also work put into developing your soft skills and a better understanding of people and what drives their behaviour within organisations. That involves seeking knowledge through conversations with peers and SME, and keeping up-to-date with organisational research. Mentorship, coaching or dedicated workshops can all help you enhance your leadership skills.

To continuously develop your leadership skills by leveraging your boss's expertise, start by seeking regular feedback to identify areas for growth and track your progress. Observe your boss’s approach to handling challenges and making decisions, and emulate their effective strategies. Engage in open dialogue through regular one-on-one meetings to discuss your goals and seek their advice. Take on new responsibilities to gain diverse experiences and demonstrate your commitment to learning. Ask for mentorship to receive personalised guidance. Be proactive in pursuing learning opportunities recommended by your boss, such as books, courses, and seminars. Continuously applying these steps will help you evolve as a leader.

Not all bosses are good bosses. Don’t despair, over the years I’ve noticed my clients learn as much about how not to lead from poor bosses as they have got positive learnings from great bosses. Use this as an opportunity to hone your own style and think about how you would lead differently.

Have a good old fashioned conversation. So many people are focused on what to “get” from their boss or peers that they forget about what they have the ability to give— a few human moments. I will never forget visiting one of my former boss’s office while he was having what I thought was “quiet” time. He invited me in and we started talking about what he was reading, a random idea he had. I learned later I was being invited in to a sacred reflection time. And I always believe I kept getting invited back because I never went in with my hand out, but with an open ear.

One of the challenges is to strengthen collaboration with the boss so that team members can fine tune expectations, needs and interests. Thus, we must find ways to establish trust as the foundation. I learned that a good leader gives trust before asking or demanding trust from the other person. We know that take risks in trusting others but there are even greater risks and repercusiions in distrusting or not trusting others.

Et si votre boss est médiocre… ben observez et faites le contraire ! C’est pénible mais instructif aussi. Un manager toxique vous indique les erreurs et les ratés à ne pas reproduire.

Algumas observações práticas sobre observar, refletir e aplicar suas conclusões sobre seu chefe precisam ser relativizadas. Seu chefe também está sujeito a contextos e parâmetros e seu estilo ou prioridades de estilo podem estas contidas nesse contexto. E você? O que molda seu desejo de liderança e de desafios? E no que a presença desse líder o desafia? Parte do papel dele será criar condições de desenvolvimento de novos líderes em sua equipe. Ele é, em princípio o “role model”, mas talvez o contexto não seja tão rico para você. Mas ele e você estão ambos em processo de desenvolvimento e evolução. Então, o seu chefe pode ser um bom exemplo no contexto atual mas amplie suas reflexões para contextos futuros ou diversos também.