Louis CarterFounder and Chief Executive Officer, Best Practice Institute · Founder and CEO, Best Practice Institute - Most Loved Workplace® | Organizational Psychologist | Creator of AI Workplace Intelligence and Employer Branding Platform

Letters to Lou: I am told to do too much by my bosses. What do I do?

19 Aug 2019 · 2 min

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2:09

In this advice monologue, a senior manager who reports to two direct bosses and a CEO describes the chaos of receiving contradictory, rapidly changing directives. The speaker argues that the lack of a clear chain of command requires the manager to become agile, proactively engage all three stakeholders, and document daily expectations. Rather than complain, the manager should treat each boss’s needs as distinct roles, clarify what each wants, and continuously adapt. The core message is to stop whining, establish clear communication, and embody agile leadership to navigate the rock‑and‑hard‑place situation.

Chapters

So I get another letter from a manager here. It says, I'm a senior manager at a major organization and I want to do my job well. I have two bosses and a CEO above me. One day I'm told to do one thing, the next day I'm told to do something else. And sometimes things change within 3-hour intervals. What do I do? So what's happening here is there's clearly there's no chain of command. There's no way of you knowing who your boss is at any one point in time. So it's time to get advice, time to slow down, time to multitask. The most successful leaders that we've seen are agile. They're able to understand a myriad of requirements inside of their company. So Beginning to have those conversations with your stakeholders, all 3 of them, your boss and those 2 people you're working for, is essential. Writing down exactly what they expect of you every day and what they know you need to be for them has to happen right away. Because at any point in time, you are an actor. Your job is to act for each of those people at different points in time. So what are you going to do? Are you going to whine about it? Are you going to complain about it? Wah, wah, wah, my boss told me to do this. It's terrible. I can't stand it. Poor me. No, you're on. You're on to do your job. So figure out who these 3 people are, what they want of you, and start living that role. Because guess what? That's what a job is all about. All right? Go do it. Go do your job. Stop whining and do it. Figure out what they want of you. Let them give you advice. Be agile. That's what real leadership is about. Thanks a lot. Go do it. Stuck between a rock and a hard place?