How To Be A Great Boss

What Makes A Great Boss?

I wrote recently about how Bosses can sometimes get a bad press. They have to be all things to all people and first and foremost, they have to win business otherwise they become the boss of no-one and nothing.

Over the years I've heard lots of evidence and experiences of people who have worked for or experienced a bad boss and not so many examples of great Bosses.

When you think about those soldiers who would follow their leader into battle, apart from being ‘ordered’ to do so, there are those who we would gladly follow into battle.

Bosses have to have a lot of skills.

When you think about an Army, the OIC (Officer In Charge), gives out the orders and the team reporting to him, has to follow. When you think about your Boss, would you be prepared to go over the Top and into battle with and for this person?’

Are you so loyal to who they are, what they represent and how they have treated you that you would, indeed follow them onto a battlefield? 

I’ve answered Yes and No to that question, in my working career many times. Sadly, more No than Yes.

So, what is the difference between somebody you’d follow ‘by request’ vs follow ‘by order’?

It’s an interesting question to ask when you work for other people and it’s also an interesting question to ask when you are made a ‘Boss’ for the first time. What feedback do you get that tells you that you are doing a good job. Whilst your team will always be willing to tell you the good stuff, do they feel empowered and do they trust you enough to give you the not so great feedback?

Not only is becoming the Boss a transition from ‘doing’ to organising', amongst many other things it also becomes more about 'communicating, managing and leading’.

It is also a transition to managing your own time and the time and work of others.

Most of us who have become Managers would like to do a good job of all of it.  In fact, I’ve never known anyone take on any job to make a bad job of it.

So what goes wrong?

Pulling away from ‘task’ and trusting others to do a good job is a big change in habit and comfort zones for those new to being a Boss.

The natural comfort zone is to keep on doing what you’ve always done and add-on the extra tasks and work-load that come with being a Boss.

A natural inclination to be able to ‘cope’ and ‘be all things, to all people’ can prevail.

Or simply, not knowing ‘how’ to make the transition and not having the support to do so.

But that’s a recipe for overwhelm, stress and disorder if those habits don’t change quickly.

Time and time again the common answers to the question of what makes a Great Boss result in me hearing what makes a Bad Boss:-

1 My boss doesn’t listen to me or my boss listens to me but pours water on all of my ideas/everything I want to do

2 My boss doesn’t trust me to do my job and ‘micro-manages’ me

3 My boss keeps meddling in the detail instead of focussing on the bigger picture

4 My boss takes credit for all of my / the teams ideas

5 My boss is inconsistent (one minute they are friendly/approachable, the next they are the opposite). It feels like I’m constantly trying to best guess their ‘mood’ and ‘adjust’ to fit their needs

6 My boss says ‘do this’ but will do the opposite

7 My boss doesn’t make time for me

8 My boss books time for my review meeting but then either cancels them (numerous times) or if they do go ahead, they talk about themselves all of the time

9 My boss doesn’t coach me or develop me

10 My boss doesn’t ‘back me up’ when I need them to and doesn’t give me opportunity to ‘shine’ and show my skills in front of those who have influence (they keep me in my place)

I’m sure you’ve all experienced some or maybe, sadly, all of the points shown above. I’m sure that there are others not listed here too.

The answer to the question ‘What makes a Great Boss’ is the opposite to all of those points above

It takes time, patience, commitment, integrity and hard work to be or to become a Great Boss. 

Some people are naturals, others have to take time to learn to be a Great Boss. Even those who are naturals have to put time and effort into being so.

Finding a good coach and ideally a Mentor from within your own business or a seasoned, experienced, trusted advisor outside of your business with whom you can spar, share ideas and ask the question ‘What would you do if……’ will enable any new or not so new Boss become better at being the Boss.

Somebody who knows you well enough to understand how you relate to others and somebody who can give you clear, objective and sometimes critical feedback to help you learn more about how you manage and who you become when you are the Boss.

Being a Great Boss, in my opinion is being able to ask your team to go with you and for your team to be with you 100%, whether that’s working on a project, building a business or metaphorically ‘going over the top’ with you, side by side. As well of course as not asking anyone to do anything that you wouldn't do yourself.

I'm not an 'expert' at being the boss so I'd welcome your inputs into the answer to the question 'What Makes A Great Boss?'

I'd love to hear from you.

Mandy