Would You Work for Someone Like You?

I just read an interesting article on CIO.com entitled How Do You Spot a Bad CIO? And it got me wondering.

Would you work for someone like you (if you had a choice)?


Hopefully, you're very self aware and you're answering yes. But I really wonder. Ask yourself the following questions and then answer the question I just posed.


1. Where do your new departmental ideas come from? (staff suggestions, peers or from you?)

2. What was the last staff suggestion you implemented? How long ago was it?

3. Which is more important to you; getting a project done on time with as little risk as possible or developing a staff member by challenging their abilities, even if it adds some risk to your project?

4. Which to do you first when things go wrong, seek blame or seek a resolution?

5. If a consultant were to ask each of your staff what they liked best about working in your department, what would they answer?

6. How often do you formally communicate to your staff (weekly? monthly?, quarterly?, only as appropriate).

7. When was the last time someone willingly left your department? Do you solicit feedback from employee exit interviews?

8. Who develops, maintains and improves your business processes?

9. How do you handle bad news?

10. What motivates your staff? (a job well done, a new challenge, praise from customers or peers, praise from you, all of the above, or they aren't particularly motivated.)

11. Have any of your employees ever been unpleasantly surprized at an annual performance review?

12. Does management do all the departmental hiring or do potential peers (teammates) also get involved?

13. How much autonomy do you foster within your department? (none, limited, more than 50% of the time, complete autonomy).

14. It's take your employee to work day. What is your staff saying to their kids? What are they proudest of?

15. Does each of your employees "have a legacy"? - something they've built, improved, or managed that they are particularly proud of?

16. Which is more important to you when considering a suggestion? employee rank (job title) or role (what they do in your department), both or neither.

17. What flexibility do you allow your staff to get their jobs done? (none, they can work remotely after hours, they can work remotely as they see fit, they have complete flexibility as long as they can be reached by phone, email or IM.)

18. Have your employees had any time in the last 12 months to try out a new technology, to improve a process or be exposed to a different role?

19. How would your employees describe their relationship with their managers or supervisors? challenged, managed, observed, corrected.

20. Why do your employee show up every day? (for their paycheck, for their teammates, to make a positive difference?)

21. What is the last thing you learned in your current capacity?

22. How many of these words would employees attribute to you or your management style? (inquisitive, interested, committed, challenging, listener, fair, honest)

23. Do people smile at your workplace?

Some things to think about.