Getting Along With Your Artisan Boss

What clues can you use to see if your boss might be an Artisan? Does your boss have the ability to react quickly in an emergency? Does your boss emphasize points by showing the action with their hands? Is your boss's posture more flexible than stiff? Does your boss talk about what is happening now rather than in the past or the future? Is your boss able to accept risk and enjoy the experience of an adrenaline high? If so, your boss could be an Artisan.

Hot buttons for an Artisan boss are:

• Employees who don't react quickly when they give one of their infrequent orders
• Employees who talk, but don't act
• Employees who try to force everyone to conform to a narrow standard

Being successful with your Artisan Boss means being very aware of what is going on in the here-and-now and being able to act in a time of emergency. It also means cultivating a sense of humor because Artisans believe that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Laughter is prized in an Artisan's workforce.

Artisans become very frustrated with the employee who won't try something new. Artisans are masters of variation and expect employees to be as innovative. They also value pragmatic outcomes over strict playing-by-the-rules. You'll be seen as more valuable with your Artisan boss if you do some experimentation - especially if you can cut the time to get a job done so everyone can have more freedom.

There are four different kinds of Artisan bosses. The Artisan Promoter wants to make an impact on the organization and mobilizes employees to that aim. When working with this supervisor, be conscious of this goal and act speedily on their orders. The Artisan Crafter likes dealing with challenging problems that have stumped others. Support their ingenuity and demonstrate that you can think and act outside of the box. The Artisan Performer wants work to be fun, wants people show team spirit, and loves taking on new projects. To be successful with this boss, you need to reflect back enthusiasm for the adventure. The Artisan Composer is a quiet leader who respects individual differences and fosters them. Show respect for diversity of thinking and acting and help your supervisor mentor others to success.

Artisan Promoters and Artisan Crafters are usually direct in their communication, although the Crafter is more attuned to action than to words. Artisan Performers and Artisan Composers are more indirect in their communication. They may hint at what they want more than say it directly. Be sensitive to those hints and take action. With all Artisans, it is the actions that you take more than the words that you say that win their admiration. They admire the bold rather than the conservative. So start noticing the areas in which they are bold to know where you, too, might take action.