Lafayette with George Washington, who was a favorite manager of many

To succeed, you not only need to do what is natural for you, you also must work inside of naturally fitting relationships. The relationships that you have with others have to be natural. Remember: what is natural will flow, feel right. You will still have to work hard but you won’t feel like you are going two steps forward, three steps back.

Your manager has to naturally fit being your manager: he or she must be a size bigger than you. You’ve felt this before. You loved the work but your manager kept micro-managing you. Or you wanted to do more but constantly felt your boss pulling you down. When your boss is not a discrete size bigger than you are, the role will feel unnatural even though the work feels natural.

You grow over time and that can mean losing a natural manager. If you grow to be able to handle the same timeframe of exercising judgment (our definition of work) as your boss, he or she will no longer feel like a natural manager. This makes keeping a natural manager hard and difficult. One of the most agonizing experiences is to outgrow your mentor or great boss. [Read more →]