When you look across your career you may be able to name several managers or mentors who taught you well and helped you to grow. You may remember a particular act of kindness or a more general feeling of support and encouragement. I have been fortunate enough to have some really great managers who allowed me to travel my own road to professional development while steering me away from the potholes.

When I worked for a large pharmaceutical company, I had a fantastic boss who instilled a great deal of loyalty in me by 1) leaving me alone to do my job 2) providing support (the right tools, training, etc.) and 3) by always rewarding me just before I felt that I deserved it. We would be in the middle of a gigantic submission, racing against an unrealistic deadline, and working crazy hours. He would pop in my office with a gift certificate for a nice dinner and push me out the door. He knew that during submission time, work-life balance became a foreign concept. He also knew that there would be another submission following on the heels of this one and he wanted to keep his team energized and engaged. I was always grateful for his support and ended up following him to another company. Our relationship was built on a couple of big assumptions: He assumed that I knew what I was doing and would let him know if I was in over my head. I assumed he needed regular communications, that I should alert him to any risks, and that I had his support, no matter what. It worked well and allowed me to develop invaluable skills.

I asked a few industry friends and colleagues to tell me who they look up to and why. Check out the answers – some may sounds really familiar! Feel free to post your own!

Joe Baldari, Manager, Document Formats and Standards, Forrest Laboratories, Inc. wrote:
“Charles Eversole was a boss I had for a year. He worked in Colorado, I in NJ, which was part of the reason I remember him. He would mentor, then sit back and let me do the job, and make my own mistakes. His only warning was to “not to flounder too long on a problem’, meaning ask for help when you need it. He also knew I had skills (interpersonal) he didn’t and would use that to our mutual advantage to get the job done. He is still a friend, 20 years after we stopped working together.

The second individual, Edwin Eichert, was a cantankerous, difficult and eccentric man. He also had a career in the navy and gave me the benefit of some very logical approaches to problem solving. When determining who was actually using an ancient legacy system (users never want to be disconnected from anything) he would have us turn it off and see who screamed. Usually, nobody. He allowed me to operate as a small business within Cyanamid (Wyeth), responsible for IT procurement (hardware, software and services) when it was actually his duty. If/when I screwed up, his response was that “Joe simply gets it done; it’s much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”. This worked out well when he took an extended sick leave and I essentially filled in for him. He ticked off most users, but his practical approach I emulate to this day. We were both proud of my finding a Help Desk recruit at the public library, where I spotted her helping the other librarians with all their computer issues. Quite a career change for her, but customer service is a skill you can’t learn.”

Leah Kleylein, Principal Consultant, Product Strategy, Octagon, wrote:
I've been fortunate enough in the last several years to have had some great managers. What gave me the ability to recognize that was that I've also had some not-so-great managers in my career as well!!

There was one great manager in particular that I really did look up to. What she did well was fostering the sense that she cared about her team and she bent over backward making sure we got credit for what we did well. She really made you feel like someone out there in the big corporation actually was watching your back for you. When working in large pharma, that's not often a feeling one has. She also was a big proponent of recognition, both official and unofficial. I remember one time, I presented her with an overall project plan of submissions for the company - the output she looked at was very visual - something she could post on her wall to give her that high-level view. She had lamented in the past that she didn't know how to find a way to see this view of the information. She was so thrilled she actually gave me the afternoon off! Talk about positive reinforcement!!

In addition to her excellent team building skills, she also was extremely intelligent and capable. There was no task she wouldn't do when it came down to crunch time - there was never a dividing line between her (the manager) and lowly non-managerial tasks.

One other manager I had did me the invaluable service of having confidence in my abilities. I will never forget being given a project that I thought was vastly beyond my capabilities - but this manager not only believed I could do it, he had the rare talent of not forcing his views or his way of doing things on me. He let me work it through, and yes, I made mistakes, but was able to learn from them and move on to the next step. He created a safe environment where my mistakes were not punished.

Looking back now, I can see that these two people truly shaped who I am and how I work today. I'll always be grateful!

Susan Galle, Regulatory Project Lead, BTG International Limited, wrote:
“This is not so easy. I have had 2 stellar managers (so far) in my career. One was early on and one was very recent - which is a separation of more than 20 years. These are very different people in terms of style and personality and it is difficult to find obvious commonalities.

On reflection, however, one talent they shared was the ability to "detect" abilities in me that I was unaware of and to cajole/encourage/insist that I demonstrate that ability. Each of these men forced me out of my comfort zone resulting in significant increases in self confidence.”

Donna Yosua, Associate Director, Regulatory Operations and Information Management, Adolor Corporation, wrote:
Martha Manning, SVP, General Counsel and Secretary, was my boss at Adolor for roughly four years. Martha hired me because she liked my attitude, confidence and work ethic, and thought I would be a great fit for the company, in spite of not necessarily being the best match to the job description.

She trusted me, gave me responsibility and held me accountable. She also gave me enough breathing room and the authority required to carry out the decisions necessary to be successful. She was an advocate who challenged me to do better and never forgot to say “thank you” or “great job” when it was in order.

Her transparency and straightforward approach made her very easy to work with and I always knew where I stood. A manager who is confident in themselves is not threatened by an ambitious subordinate, and when there is mutual trust and respect, everyone benefits.

The path that Martha helped to set for me has been a positive one and I learned a lot in the process. I have been at Adolor now for almost seven years and have been promoted twice, once by Martha, and once by a subsequent manager.

Martha also has six children, and, being a mother myself, she showed that you can be successful in your career and still maintain a balanced family life. All of these things are why I look up to Martha and why she was a great mentor.