Boss For The Day

A short while ago, before I left for 1 week’s vacation we tried an experiment. I decided not to run my business from afar and trust my very capable team to keep the balls bouncing and the wheels rolling. We drew days from a hat and 5 members from our team got to be “Boss for the day”.  No great amount of thought went into it other than determining a fair way of selecting those who would be in charge. It could have been a lame and chaotic exercise…not so.

First of all, each “Boss” took the task seriously. And maybe because the gavel would soon be passed to the next team member, the remaining members of the team were co-operative with their new leader for the day. How do I know this? I did a debriefing as soon as I got back. I sat with each “Boss” and employee and had a 5 question recap of how everyone felt the individual “Bosses” did and also had the “Bosses” do a self assessment of their performance. There was a clear and unanimous winner.

The next day we ordered pizza and announced the winner and runner up. The winners both got a small cash prize. Everyone enjoyed the experience and I believe it was an effective team building exercise. It was an opportunity to change things up and break the routine. They had a good time and I actually took a real vacation…maybe the first time ever.

My observation with this and other experiences is that it’s hard to share a spotlight. Some very capable people stay in the shadows either by choice, lack of opportunity or by surrounding themselves with more outwardly confident people that “seek the light” and enjoy it. Our winner was one of those “shadow people” and everyone that picked him as the winner said it with a bit of surprise in their voice. Coincidently, the winner was also the only one who confessed they had a headache at the end of their “Boss for the Day” event.

I would encourage others to try this exercise. It worked rather well and was a great learning experience for all involved.

Lee’s Quote For The Day

“Although the right person doesn’t always end up in charge, for business to flourish it is a necessary requirement.  Oddly enough, sometimes the best candidate can come from the shadows, not the spotlight.”