The workplace is an extension of the rest of life. We judge others by the impact of their behavior on us, and we generally assume we know what drives other people. Their behavior seems to make it fairly obvious. This is how human beings perceive, and this is why we managers need to carefully examine what the unintended impact of our behavior is, especially during times when everybody feels pressured. Bulletproof bosses ask questions, assume little, and are willing to wait and react more slowly to what appears to be an employee s unwillingness to cooperate.
Bulletproof bosses know how to listen.
They build relationships with the people who work with them, they treat people as trustworthy until proven otherwise, and they are aware that what is painful to them is painful to others. In small places, close to home so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Heeding these words may be just what we need to do to bulletproof the workplaces of the 21st century.