Are you a good boss – to yourself?

My partner and fellow home worker, A, is a trainer and coach amongst other things, and involved with a company that helps develop excellent managers. Their model identifies good managers as those who exhibit High Challenge and High Support. In other words they expect more from you than you think you can deliver, but provide the encouragement and backup to help you achieve it.

The trouble with working at home is that so often the boss is Extremely High Challenge and Absolutely No Support! You know the kind of thing s/he natters away in the back of your mind:

‘You’re not very good at this, are you? If you carry on like this, you’ll never get anywhere. Well, that was kind of OK, but you could have done better there…and there…and there. This is taking far too long.’ And so on and so on.

It’s Friday today and a good day to look back at what you have achieved this week, rather than dwelling on what you haven’t. Give yourself a few minutes to acknowledge your progress and appreciate your many talents. As for that demanding boss, give ‘em the sack, at least for today.