Your boss isn’t always right

Leadership Expert and author Janice Sutherland said that some bosses need to learn that their way is not always the right way to do things.
Sutherland, who became the first female Chief Executive Officer for one of the Caribbean’s leading telecommunications organisations, Digicel, said it was the hardest lesson she had to learn.
“Especially when you work in large organisations you cannot be in every faucet of the business. What you think is a good idea on paper because you read it somewhere and it looks fantastic, may not be practical in the real world. So, speak to your team, the people who are working for you and the ones actually doing the job,” Sutherland said.
She stated that managers are often perceived as know-it-alls who are not open to discussion and often cast blame when their leadership causes discomfort for the organisation and staff.
But Sutherland said the effort would be better served if line staff can see the vision and expected outcome which can only be reached through effective discussion rather than having the people doing the work stand in the way through sabotage.
“Don’t get me wrong they [staff] may look at you and say ‘tarl, this work look too hard to change things and I don’t want to do that,’ but, it is much better to have the buy-in of the people that are going to do the role than have them objecting to it,” she said
Sutherland, who is also an executive coach, author, keynote speaker, podcast host and author of This Woman Can, the No B.S. guide for women who lead admitted that she does not know everything, nor did she ever micro-managed her team.
“I didn’t have time for that. I didn’t have the time to be in everybody’s business, for me it was about how you got the job done and if you made a mistake, own it, come to me and let’s see how to make it right,” she added.
Through leadership training and elite-level mentorship, Sutherland coaches women around the world to take their rightful seat at the table where the important decisions are made. 
She credits her unique background for her ability to create programs that equip and inspire women to advance their careers and develop the confidence, presence and influence they need to drive through leadership barriers and confidently navigate the boardroom. 
Using her 25-year experience, the leadership expert penned an almost 200-page book which she launched Monday night.