Last week we looked at what it meant to be ready for creating “more than satisfied” customers a.k.a. Disciples.  I suggested that the three essentials that had to exist in order to be ready to make Disciples were:

(You can find them here in the original post)

1. You need to be prepared to serve.
2. You need to be prepared to give
3. You need to be prepared to nurture

It struck me a couple days later. What if I treated my boss like that?

If you think of a customer as someone who pays you money in exchange for goods or services doesn’t your boss fit into that category rather nicely? But somehow we treat the boss like he or she owes us. We did the work so they owe us the money. Because, after all, we get paid AFTER the work is done.

But what if we flipped all that on its head and started thinking of the boss as a customer. Someone we were prepared to serve above and beyond, all the time. Someone we were prepared to give recognition  and appreciate. Someone with whom we were ready to nurture a relationship. Rather than expecting to BE served, BE recognized, and BE nurtured?

I freely confess I am terrible at managing upward. I have even scoffed at the notion in the past when confounded by managers who could manage up well enough but couldn’t manage downward worth a lick. I always figured it had more to do with the color of their nose rather than any particular skill. But all of that aside I wonder what would happen if I started treating my boos like a customer. Same expectation on delivery, same anticipation of need, same attention to service. What might happen?

What do you think would happen if you started to treat your boss like your most valued customer?