Recently, I wrote about how to lead a team of experts, when you’re not an expert yourself.
Let’s focus on the other side of this coin: As a deeply knowledgeable subject expert, how do you help your subject-ignorant boss to make better decisions?
For this, it’s helpful to look at the personality of leaders using two questions:
- Are they task driven, or people focused?
- Are they reflective, or assertive?
Leaders who are task driven and reflective, generally base their decisions on data.
Leaders who are task driven and assertive, will make better decisions when presented with options.
Leaders who are people focused and reflective, respond best to guarantees.
And finally, leaders who are people focused and assertive like to hear success stories from other places.
Don’t focus on trying to teach your boss about all the details of your subject matter expertise. Instead, focus on giving him or her exactly what they need to have a better decision making process.