When you were a lowly assistant fetching coffee and sending endless faxes, you promised yourself that when you were in charge you’d break the bitchy-boss mold. No Devil Wears Prada for you (even if you could afford Prada). Fast-forward, and now you have a team of employees looking to you for guidance. Have you kept your promise? Take this quiz to find out!
1. Time for your Monday-morning meeting and your assistant calls to say she’s running late because of roommate drama. What do you say?
a. “In that case, you’ll need to stay late to make up the time. Please adjust your time sheet accordingly.”
b. “Could you call Kinkos and find out if they can send over a courier with those handouts? Thanks!”
c. “That sounds awful! Take your time. You can tell me about it when you get into the office.”
2. A major company secret has leaked to the competition. What’s your reaction?
a. You send out a memo to your staff reminding them of the importance of the company’s confidentiality agreement. In the future, you’ll be much more careful about who has access to proprietary information.
b. You leave work early, pleading a migraine. You’ll let your assistant field calls and come back to work when things blow over. At least it’ll be a chance for her to step up and show some leadership.
c. You call a team meeting to share as much information about the leak as you’re allowed to. You’re not going to point fingers, but you want to keep everyone informed.
3. You have the opportunity to plan and execute a major event for a client. There’s someone on your team who’s dying to sink her teeth into a project like that, so you…
a. Ask her to hand out the swag bags at the end. That way she’ll get some face time with the bigwigs, but she won’t have the opportunity to screw anything up.
b. Pass on the logistical stuff to her, but continue to serve as the point person with the client. You’ll forward their preferences to her so she can work with the vendors and event staff, but the client will continue to see you in the lead.
c. Invite her to attend planning meetings, ask for her opinions, and give her a walkie-talkie to carry during the event. That’ll give her some good hands-on training and take the pressure off you.
4. Your department went way over budget this quarter thanks to a couple of unauthorized expenditures from one of your underlings. What’s his explanation?
a. “She doesn’t understand that you need to spend money to make money. I knew she wouldn’t approve, but this expense was necessary to make the project a success.”
b. “She wasn’t around to sign off on the expense report, and we needed to move forward. I figured she wouldn’t even notice.”
c. “She gave me free rein to make this project work. I really thought we’d see a higher ROI, but I’ve learned my lesson.”
5. You and your team are asked to come up with a list of potential marketing slogans by Monday morning. It’s now Friday afternoon. What’s the status?
a. You collected suggestions from your team and now you’re creating a master list with the best ones. After that, you’ll format the list in your favorite font and drop it by the VP’s office personally.
b. You have weekend plans in the Hamptons, so you’ve asked your team to come in for a brainstorming session on Saturday morning and e-mail you with the results. You put in plenty of work on the weekends when you were starting out, so you figure you’ve paid your dues.
c. You ordered in pizza so you and your team could brainstorm over lunch. You want to make it fun and encourage creativity, so you offered the pizza as an incentive. Bonus: You get to bond with your employees in a less stuffy setting.
6. The VP loves one of your teams’ slogans so much that he’s recommending you for a promotion. The only problem is, the slogan was suggested by an intern, not you. Do you feel guilty?
a. Not really. You taught that intern everything you know about marketing. Plus, you were savvy enough to recognize a good idea when you saw it.
b. Of course not. As team leader, it’s your job to motivate and inspire. This success is obviously the result of your leadership skills, so you deserve that promotion.
c. So much so that you tell the VP whose idea it was and recommend that he consider promoting the intern to a full-time hire once she graduates.
7. One of the junior members of your team asks for more responsibility, but you’re not sure she’s ready. How do you handle this request?
a. Let her know that you’ll revisit the idea at her annual review in a few more months.
b. Offer her more busy work. You’ll gladly let someone else take over that book of press clippings or that spreadsheet of charitable donations.
c. Work out a plan to work more closely with her and slowly transition more responsibility. You also suggest some opportunities for professional development.
8. Your star employee has been offered a higher-level position at another company and gives her two weeks notice. How do you react?
a. Offer your congratulations and hand her a list of menial tasks that you need completed before she leaves. You’ll also need a formal letter of resignation by the end of the day.
b. Ask her to start training another junior staff member to take on her responsibilities. You aren’t sure how to do what she does, so hopefully she’ll leave detailed instructions for her successor.
c. Thank her for all she’s done over the last two years and ask where she’d like to have her goodbye lunch. This is a huge opportunity for her, and you intend to send her off in style.
Mostly A’s: The Micromanager. You’re the type of person who has a very specific way of doing things. Even though your to-do list is overwhelming, you’re reluctant to pass on important projects. What if your assistant screws up the guest list or forgets to send out that press release? But if you train her well, then you’ll have more time to focus on the big picture.
Mostly B’s: The Delegator. You have no trouble assigning tasks to other people, but your management style tends to be a little hands-off. Don’t be afraid to push up your sleeves and work alongside your team to meet an important deadline. You’ll earn more respect and loyalty if you show you’re a team player instead of hiding away in that corner office.
Mostly C’s: The Mentor. You’re the type of boss that most assistants dream of. You give your staff consistent feedback, interesting projects, and opportunities to develop their skills. You also care about your subordinates as people, too. Just make sure your desire to be liked doesn’t get in the way of being an effective boss.
