The 5 Key Elements of An Effective Boss - Part I

Much has been written and said about effective leadership and its critical importance for the health of any organization. Yet, despite investments in leadership development, it remains elusive in too many organizations.  The costs of poor leadership are staggering!  Its tentacles of harm affect employee morale, performance, quality, ingenuity, profit, and market share.  Why it’s tolerated is a topic for another post.

What makes an effective boss? Here is my take that is based on both personal and shared experiences and the reading of multiple books and articles.  

Element # 1 Unconditional Virtues    

Regardless of the stresses and challenges associated with the evolving world of business, an effective boss stays true to the virtues and principles that have always defined them. Like a storm battered lighthouse, the effective boss resists the pressure to adopt ethically and professionally questionable beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and practices.  They are regarded as a person of conscience in a business world increasingly driven by short-term thinking and monetary expedience.  There is a line that they will not cross.  In other words, their soul is not for sale.

Additional virtues, behaviors, attitudes, practices, and adjectives, include:

• Integrity, moral fiber, loyalty, character, compassion, courage, honor, respect, trust, and empathy, etc.
• Role ownership. The effective boss takes accountability for all aspects of their job, however unpleasant or unglamorous.
• A consistent practitioner of the organization’s founding, but often forgotten, values.
• An advocate for their department and people. The effective boss never deflects blame by throwing an employee under the bus, so to speak. Instead, they speak with pride about their employees and their achievements.
• A style that matches their belief that people are the organization’s most valuable assets. They make time to develop a rapport and an understanding of each of their employees.
• Problem solver. When employees encounter operational snags, the effective boss will help resolve them, regardless of political considerations.
• Freely gives and shares credit and recognition.
• Treats employees professionally by sharing important and time-sensitive information, and acknowledging and responding to rumors. The effective boss never carelessly leaves their employees in the dark.
• A proven responsiveness to questions and requests for help.
• Leads by example.
• Humility. The effective boss makes mistakes like any human being and readily takes the ownership to admit and correct them.

I've been lucky to have worked for a number of virtuous bosses. How about you? 

Next week: Part II -  The Effective Boss’s 2nd Key Element – “2 Voices.”