Boss Pie UPDATE

[Update to my coaching tool “Boss Pie” - reframed a few concepts and added examples for clarity]

• TLDR:

  • Leading is directing resources to affect change or create value so you do not need to lead people, to be a leader

  • Everyone’s work can be sorted into the Boss Pie slices of Executive, Strategic, Coaching and Management

  • Framing your work in this way, based on your primary influence level, is empowering

  • Viewing your work and the work of others this way makes building trust easier

OK, yes, the term “Boss” usually applies to the person with authority to make decisions, but it’s also slang for successful. Similarly, the term “Leader” usually applies to the person who sets the vision or direction, but really a leader is anyone who directs resources to affect a change or create value. That means that anyone can be a Boss, and you do not need people reporting to you to be a Leader.

Let’s dive deeper, but first some housekeeping to avoid confusion with terms or titles that matter in your organization. In the Boss Pie construct, there are only three levels of Leader (based exclusively on reporting structure):

• Directors - have both direct and indirect reports

• Managers - have direct reports but no indirect reports

• Individuals - have no team members reporting to them

For example, your CEO (while obviously both an Executive and a Leader) for the purposes of the Boss Pie is labelled a “Director”.

The differentiator in the Leader categories and the Pie Slices is scale. For the categories of Leader, the scale encompasses the people from whom we are trying to get more value for the organization.

For Leaders categories, this covers from whom we work primarily to increase value delivered for the organization.

• Directors - work to get more value from their directs who also work to get more value from people - so coaching people to be better coaches; must also be concerned with getting value from one’s self, and from peer and boss/Board relationships

• Managers - work to get more value from direct reports, whose primary delivery is people focused only laterally - so coaching people to be better partners/peers, and to improve processes, or systems, or data; must be concerned with getting value from one’s self

• Individuals - work to provide value and to get more value out of their work, by improving peer relationships, streamlining their own processes, identifying opportunities to improve data or provide different products and services

Next, the Boss Pie slices are the four big buckets into which all work can be categorized. They are Executive, Strategic, Coaching, and Management. Similar to Leader levels, the work category slices are a matter of scale but in this case based on time rather than sphere of influence. Executive is the longest and is generally in years. Strategic is shorter, quarters out to years. Coaching is shorter still, months to quarters. Management is the shortest - daily, sprints, months.

• Executive activities - setting and maintaining the direction; defining, aligning with, and influencing the mission of the organization. Looking up and around, and getting everyone or all the resources rowing in the same direction

  • Directors - define the organizational mission; working with the board to set the direction for the enterprise

  • Managers - clarify the department or business line’s contribution to the mission; work with your bosses to understand the value your team brings and ensure your team members know it; Managers don’t set the vision but they have to be able to communicate it

  • Individuals - understand how your work helps the organization achieve the enterprise goals; work with your boss to understand the value delivered by the daily- and special-tasks you are asked to complete. Which operational metrics does the work drive? What specific short- or long-term goals does this work promote, or make more likely to succeed?

  • Each of us has a “meta-responsibility” here: to ensure we understand how our work is promoting the organizational goals.

    • Directors - is what the Board, business environment, industry, and economy demanding of you clear?

    • Managers - is the contribution of your line of business to the organization clear?

    • Individuals - do you understand why you are doing this work?

• Strategic activities - setting medium to long-term goals to assist with or achieve the mission. Understanding urgent priorities and ensuring work moves us in the right direction

  • Directors - which KPIs need to shift by what amount this year, and what projects are we undertaking to achieve those changes?

  • Managers - what are the quarterly and annual goals we need to complete and how does your line of business or team play a part in those? What specific projects does your team need to complete and which organizational goal is that driving? Does everyone understand that?

  • Individuals - what are your goals and projects for this year? Do you have specific metrics you are looking to adjust? What are the special projects your bonus is based on?

  • At the highest level, our leaders may have set organizational goals like Control (lower) Costs, Generate (increase) Revenue, and Manage (tolerate) Risk - but those big ideas have to translate into Strategic goals. For example:

    • gain new customers (member growth), increasing business with existing customers (loan growth, per member service ratio)

    • process improvement (case closure time, average call time)

    • improved audit performance (reduced findings, or finding resolution speed).

• Coaching activities - getting the most out of the resources or people under your direct control. Removing non-value work, developing skills, or improving processes This could be training your direct reports to their fullest, or finding ways to streamline a process, improve data quality, and improve business partner relationships for your role 

  • Directors - working with each of your directs to define a career path then setting goals that will help them progress on it; and assisting them in doing the same for their directs; alternate weekly or biweekly 1on1s - one for what you need from them, and one for what they need to grow

  • Managers - defining SMART goals for your team members aligned with career advancement and the needs of the organization. Between the two, advancing their career is more important, even if it looks like you are pushing them out of the enterprise. We will naturally adjust to take advantage of their new skills, but if we don’t invest in them, they will leave or become less valuable overtime. If “people are our greatest assets” then we need to care for them, provide regular maintenance and upgrades, and plan for the best ways to align them with our organizational needs

  • Individuals - find ways to improve your work and share that knowledge with your team and your bosses. Where is the low value activity that can be automated? Where is the small opportunity that creates value for the team and the organization? Invest in yourself to improve and grow, even if your current role doesn’t require it. Your job will change over time and being part of the dynamic growth of the organization means doing more than the same thing you did yesterday.

• Management activities - getting the required tasks done, ensuring progress is made. Today’s To Do list. If you are getting caught up on the word “management” in the title, think “time management”

  • Directors - check in with your directs and ensure they are progressing as expected and that you are both informed and not a blocker. What are you doing to improve your value to the organization? Who is your objective mirror? Who are your mentors and mentees and are you dedicating time for them? Are you doing what the Board, your superiors and peers need from you? How much time each day do you set aside for reflection and planning?

  • Management - check in with your directs and ensure they are progressing as expected and that you are both informed and not a blocker. Check in your your superior and ensure they are informed and are updated with anything you need that is their purview to procure or decide. Individually, who are your peer sounding boards, and are you dedicating time to work with them? Are you meeting with mentors to progress your skills, and with mentees to pay it forward?

  • Individuals - check in with your team and your bosses to ensure they are both informed and updated with anything you need that they have to procure or decide. Share with your team what you are learning and get their ideas on how your work can be improved. Meet with your mentor and reserver time for development activities.

Every person’s time and energy can be described in terms of the slices of the Boss Pie. The most important thing to remember is that regardless of whether you are leading other leaders, one team of individuals, or a system process - you are the eyes and mind closest to how those resources are executing against the needs of the organization as we work towards our collective goals. Recognize that you can change the organization and create value, and know that everyone of us can make us better.

Note: got a great DM about this posting. Since all Leader Categories do work in each of the Boss slices (but the work is oriented differently or timed differently), you have real-world examples of activities with which both to evaluate proficiency and to use as “teaching moments” for a rise to the next Category.