“My boss believes in a certain way of running a business,” said one person. “He keeps talking about the ‘processes’. Even though he uses the right ‘management phrases’ about people, I am not sure he feels these in his gut. How can I get him to believe-in getting things done through people?”

It is vital to understand your boss’s business model. You can then decide whether you want: a) To work with it; b) To try to influence it - which may or may not be possible; c) To find a boss with whom you share a similar business model. Here are three ideas to consider during this process.

1) You can understand your boss’s business model.

Every leader has a view about how to run a successful business. How to discover it? Listen to the language they use and the activities they focus on. Different leaders have different approaches. By and large, however, many believe in achieving profitability through products, principles and people. The secret, of course, is to get the right combination of all three.

Try tackling the following exercise on this theme. Looking at your boss, rate to what extent you think they really believe-in and understand these three areas. The ‘understanding’ aspect is crucial. Every retailer will say they believe in offering the right product to the right customers - but they may only understand previous generations of customers, not the present or future generations. Similarly, a leader may have understood how to ‘motivate’ people in the old days - but their approach does not work in today’s world. Try answering the following questions.

Products

The extent to which I believe my boss really believes in offering the right
products at the right price to the right customers in the right way is: ____ / 10

The extent to which I believe my boss really
understands how to do this in today’s world is: ____ / 10

Principles

The extent to which I believe my boss really believes in getting the right
principles in place to deliver the right service in the right way is: ____ / 10

The extent to which I believe my boss really
understands how to do this in today’s world is: ____ / 10

People

The extent to which I believe my boss really believes in employing the
right people and enabling them to deliver the right results is: ____ / 10

The extent to which I believe my boss really
understands how to do this in today’s world is: ____ / 10

Start by clarifying your boss’s business model, then move onto the next step.

2) You can decide how you want to behave in relation to your boss’s business model.

“My MD believes in working through people,” said one HR professional, “but he recognises that, because of his impatience, he can be quite abrupt. So he encourages me to orchestrate the people part of the strategy. But that doesn’t stop him being impatient. He frequently wants to know why the stores are not producing enough new ideas to improve customer service.”

Bearing in mind your boss’s business model, clarify how you want to move forward. Decide whether:

a) You have a good basis for working together.

b) You have some differences, but these can be worked out.

c) You have basic values that are too different.

“Is it possible to change my leader’s model?” somebody may ask: “How can I persuade them to give more weight to other aspects of the business?”

Different leaders have different challenges that ‘keep them awake at night’. So any suggestion you make must show how it will address these issues and deliver success. The leader must also buy-into the idea on both an intellectual and emotional level. They might even decide to give it a go but, unless it produces immediate results, they may quickly revert to their old model. Bearing these thoughts in mind, choose what you want to do in relation to your boss’s business model. There may well be the basis for working together. If not, you may want to consider the next step.

3) You can find a boss with whom you share a similar model.

Great teams are made up of people who have ‘similarity of spirit and diversity of strengths.’ This is true at any level - but particularly in relation to working with your boss. It is important to work for somebody with whom you have a values-fit. For example, the advice given to any football manager looking for a club is: “Choose to work for the right chairman. Make sure you have a similar professional values and a similar view of how the game should be played - otherwise you will be in trouble from the beginning.” The same rule applies in many walks of life. Ultimately you will do your best work for a leader with whom you share a similar business model.

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