Be a Great Boss: The Hill Collection (4 Items)

248 Being the Boss

feedback. These are the very people you’re trying to infl uence, and

you need to know the effects on them of your words and actions.

To get their real thoughts, you need their trust, which takes time

to develop. It will help if you’re open about your desire to improve

and if you admit your own mistakes and shortcomings and how

you plan to overcome them. Sometimes it’s more fruitful to ask not

for their personal opinions but what “people” in general think.

Many managers resist this approach. They’re overly fearful of

appearing weak, uncertain, and ineffectual. As we said before,

there’s a fi ne line here, and you must use your judgment, situation

by situation, to stay on the positive side of it. But hollow confi -

dence and ...