Whether you live in a big city and work for a Fortune 500 company, or you work in a small store in a remote town, a good boss makes a huge difference in the workplace morale, productivity, and ultimately contributes to the success of your enterprise.
In my career, I have been an employee longer than I have been in management, so I have seen both sides and can understand things from both perspectives. It's not easy being a manager, and it's much easier being an employee. As a manager, you have to deliver results, but you also have to deal with people issues. Insubordination, health issues, conflicts, etc. and the list goes on. You have to earn respect from your reports (keyword is "earn"), and build rapport with other managers so they will support your team when in need. You hire carefully and make sure the team is working well together. You discipline appropriately and fire before the bad employee's behavior infects the rest of the team.
It's hard. And I'm sure you have had bosses who are not like that. Bosses who seem to hardly do anything; bosses who don't have a clue what you do; bosses who are too much into what you do and ask to be copied on everything and sometimes takes over your job a bit? Bosses who just repeat what their boss tells them? We've all met them whether directly or indirectly.
Perhaps there is one thing in common for good bosses: they genuinely CARE about their team and they put TRUST in their team.
When a boss trusts, he/she will not get into your hair and ask nitty gritty questions all the time. He/she will give you discretion and decision making power.
When a boss cares, he/she will make themselves available if you have questions or just anything you may want to talk about. He/she will want to understand what you do and how you do your job, so they understand what you go through on a daily basis. He/she will look for or will support opportunities that will make your job easier and safer. He/she will be honest about how he/she feels if there are higher management decisions being passed down for him/her to execute. He/she will apologize if he did or said something wrong and he will show appreciation and gratitude regularly for the good work you do.
Why do good bosses matter? If I am a boss today, can I decide to be an "effective" boss rather than a "well-liked" boss? Of course I can. I may get promoted for being able to get another half million dollars revenue because I put a lot of pressure on my people. But I will not retain the best talent in the company. My team will eventually consist of people who are sad, unmotivated, who are only there for the paycheck. My reputation will precede me and people on other teams will rather quit the company than work for me. The bad morale will spread wider the higher I get in the company. And everyone knows bad morale means low productivity. So, where is the effectiveness of my style now?
I have had the privilege of working for some great bosses in the past and especially the present. I have learned so much and have lots of respect for them. If I ever am to be a manager again one day, I will definitely look to my role models and learn to manage like them.
In my career, I have been an employee longer than I have been in management, so I have seen both sides and can understand things from both perspectives. It's not easy being a manager, and it's much easier being an employee. As a manager, you have to deliver results, but you also have to deal with people issues. Insubordination, health issues, conflicts, etc. and the list goes on. You have to earn respect from your reports (keyword is "earn"), and build rapport with other managers so they will support your team when in need. You hire carefully and make sure the team is working well together. You discipline appropriately and fire before the bad employee's behavior infects the rest of the team.
It's hard. And I'm sure you have had bosses who are not like that. Bosses who seem to hardly do anything; bosses who don't have a clue what you do; bosses who are too much into what you do and ask to be copied on everything and sometimes takes over your job a bit? Bosses who just repeat what their boss tells them? We've all met them whether directly or indirectly.
Perhaps there is one thing in common for good bosses: they genuinely CARE about their team and they put TRUST in their team.
When a boss trusts, he/she will not get into your hair and ask nitty gritty questions all the time. He/she will give you discretion and decision making power.
When a boss cares, he/she will make themselves available if you have questions or just anything you may want to talk about. He/she will want to understand what you do and how you do your job, so they understand what you go through on a daily basis. He/she will look for or will support opportunities that will make your job easier and safer. He/she will be honest about how he/she feels if there are higher management decisions being passed down for him/her to execute. He/she will apologize if he did or said something wrong and he will show appreciation and gratitude regularly for the good work you do.
Why do good bosses matter? If I am a boss today, can I decide to be an "effective" boss rather than a "well-liked" boss? Of course I can. I may get promoted for being able to get another half million dollars revenue because I put a lot of pressure on my people. But I will not retain the best talent in the company. My team will eventually consist of people who are sad, unmotivated, who are only there for the paycheck. My reputation will precede me and people on other teams will rather quit the company than work for me. The bad morale will spread wider the higher I get in the company. And everyone knows bad morale means low productivity. So, where is the effectiveness of my style now?
I have had the privilege of working for some great bosses in the past and especially the present. I have learned so much and have lots of respect for them. If I ever am to be a manager again one day, I will definitely look to my role models and learn to manage like them.
posted from Bloggeroid
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