What Kind of Boss Are You

That statement is often made by people who want to quit their day jobs and work at home. As writers, we love the idea of no one telling us what to do. We love being able to schedule our work and our days. It’s a wonderful system—but only if you have a wonderful boss!

Are you the kind of boss you’d like to work for? Many days I am, but it’s taken years to get to this point. Over the years I’ve been many kinds of bosses—some of them good, some destructive. Which kind are you?

In my early years of writing, back when it was all new to me, my boss was a real coach. Enthusiastic, fun, excited, non-restrictive. She wanted me to explore all my writing and publishing options, try various topics and formats just to see if I liked them, and she never harped about the bottom line.

She was fun to work for—and my work showed it (in terms of both quantity and quality)—despite being surrounded by babies and toddlers at the time.

I worked for this boss next. He held a whip over my head, which he cracked often (e.g. if I slowed down or considered taking a sick day.) To be honest, this boss got a LOT of work out of me. I dragged myself to his office no matter how sick I was. Days off were frowned on, so I rarely took one.

It wasn’t worth it anyway. I felt his condemning glare no matter where I tried to hide from him. It was easier to give in and work nonstop than fight him. After all, there were bills to pay! I knew the quality of my writing was going down, but this boss didn’t seem to notice or care. Quantity was everything to him.

This boss believed in lots of networking, and at first, I liked his ideas. I met other writers, read their work, saw their websites and blogs and podcasts and newsletters and webinars and YouTube videos and book trailers. Unfortunately, my boss couldn’t let me enjoy all the new things I was seeing.

He started breathing down my neck, changing orders every half hour. “We’re behind the times!” he’d whisper in my ear. “Create a newsletter!” I’d start that project, but soon he said, “Yours isn’t as good as the competition’s! Drop that and create a teleseminar instead!” No matter how many projects I juggled, this boss let me know it was never good enough. My job was always in jeopardy. I took out stock in an antacid company.

While I was in the hospital recovering from working for the paranoid boss, a wonderful thing happened. My dream boss visited one day with a bouquet of daffodils and box of chocolates—and offered me a job. I’ve been working for this boss ever since, and I hope she lives forever!

She gives me one project to do at a time. “Multi-tasking is another name for fragmented,” she informed me. I now write for two hours before I’m required to do anything else.

My boss doesn’t compare my work to anyone else’s. She loves quality, but she doesn’t measure quality by the size of the advance.

My boss is understanding about sick days, yet she makes sure I show up for work most of the time because she knows I’m happier that way.

Writers are in the enviable position of being their own bosses. Are you the kind of boss you’d like to work for?

If not, you have the power to change that. Starting today, be your ideal boss. List the traits of your perfect boss, the kind of treatment you’d love to receive. Then turn around and give yourself that treatment. You’ll be a happier, more productive employee!