Consistency
One of my favorite bosses as a corporate slave was very different from me. He wasn’t vain, but he weighed himself every morning, and when he was up a couple of pounds, he would be careful about what he ate that day. He ran three to five miles daily - at home or on business trips, rain or shine. He did all this to manage his stress levels. I haven’t weighed myself in decades and have a solid aversion to exercise.
I admired his self-discipline, but I liked his quirky side too - he kept a small box of raisins next to a photo of his kids to remind himself that he was working to feed his family. He looked at those raisins whenever he had an awful day at work. His breakfast was a cup of coffee, and in the evenings, he enjoyed one snifter of Grand Marnier, an orange-flavored liqueur. Even in his quirks, he was consistent.
His roots were modest, he fought in Vietnam, and his indifference for fancy Ivy League credentials and luxury brands distinguished him from the other executives. Still, most of all, it made his intelligence feel like a secret weapon. He had a steel-trap memory, and I had to work like hell to keep up. I traveled to Japan and Europe dozens of times a year with him, and I got to learn what makes a great boss.
Wise consistency
As a corporate executive, he strictly adhered to company policies and adopted established processes with little fanfare - he knew some battles were not worth fighting. But he also gave me the freedom to break some rules and go my own way. When the going got unusually tough at times, he would quote Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance - A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. You can read Emerson’s full essay here. Bitches, this was not like those pretentious motivational posters you’d see for sale in airline magazines!
He understood that my role didn’t fit corporate norms and protected me from the hobgoblins. He trusted me to make the right decisions for my team, and in turn, I felt a heavy sense of responsibility to take risks but never cross the line. He was fiscally conservative but socially progressive, and I always felt safe around him. Considering I was usually the only female with a seat at the table, this was no easy task.
Looking back, I understand why he liked Emerson. He was very self-reliant, and while he didn’t eschew corporate rules, he did believe in the importance of following one’s instincts and avoiding unnecessary conformity. I was fortunate to have him as a boss, and he still inspires me to this day.