BOSS SPECIAL 10 Habits Of Well-Liked Bosses
What does it take to
become one the those bosses that people love? Here are 10 traits those popular
leaders have.
If you’ve ever had a truly great boss,
you know how important they can be to a company’s success. In fact, Gallup’s
2015 report, "State of the
American Manager: Analytics and Advice for Leaders," chalks up 70%
of the variance in employee engagement scores to the quality of the
respondents’ bosses.
But the term "good boss" isn’t really clear. What’s the
difference between a great boss and one that’s just so-so? Here are 10 habits
that great bosses share.
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Good bosses seek the input of employees
and make sure they understand what’s going on around them, says Jeffrey J. Fox,
founder of management consulting firmFox & Company, Inc. and author
of How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and
Keeping the Best Employees. The best bosses engage employees in
dialogue about the company and their input is valued, he says. They’re not
ambiguous and you always know where you stand with them.
"Employees hate ambiguity. You’ve got to get ahead of the
ever-running rumor mill," he says.
In addition to being good communicators, good bosses hire for
intelligence, integrity, and an I-can-do-it attitude rather than just
experience—then trust their employees to perform, Fox says. If you hire good
people, you don’t need to micromanage or waste energy on worrying whether the
work will get done.
If
you hire good people, you don’t need to micromanage or waste energy on worrying
whether the work will get done.
"Sometimes a boss is like a master gardener," Fox says.
"You're constantly in the garden, pruning, trimming, fertilizing,
watering, getting rid of dead plants, and making sure there's no bad insects,"
he says.
Running hot and cold doesn’t bode well
for a boss’s ability, according to a February 2016 study published in
the Academy of Management Journal. While some may think that being
treated fairly sometimes is better than never, the study found that employees
in environments where fair treatment was inconsistent had more psychological
stress than both people who were treated consistently fairly and consistently
unfairly.
ADVERTISEMENT
It’s easier to be a good boss if you
understand the work that your employees are doing, says Robert I. Sutton, professor of
management science at Stanford University and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to be the Best . . . And Learn from the Worst.
When
employees know that it’s not the end of the world if they make a mistake or an
idea doesn’t work out, they start sharing and collaborating more.
The notion of a general manager who can manage anything isn’t
true, he says. You have to know the nuts and bolts of what your employees are
doing and the challenges they may face in order to manage them well.
Mistakes are going to happen and if your employees are afraid to
tell you, it’s only going to make things worse, Fox says. He says he recently
worked with a client where employees were so afraid to make mistakes that they
did nothing. When employees know that it’s not the end of the world if they
make a mistake or an idea doesn’t work out, they start sharing and
collaborating more, he says.
"The best bosses are in tune with what it feels like to work
for them," Sutton says. When you’re working in a hierarchy, the people
above you tend to have more power, and if they’re unaware of the environment
they create, it can be miserable, he says. Bosses who understand the
environment they create for their workers and have a good idea of their own
weaknesses and strengths are better able to mitigate stress and other workplace
issues.
Effective bosses work with their own supervisors as advocates for
the people who report to them, Sutton says. If your boss is well-respected
among the upper ranks within the company, he or she can be more effective in
negotiating on behalf of his or her team.
Good bosses know you have a life—and
actually care about that, says entrepreneurBill Seagraves, author of Be Your Best Boss: Reinvent Yourself from Employee to Entrepreneur. He believes it’s
critical to allow people time for their families and personal obligations and
to ensure they’re taking the time they need for themselves. Failure to do so
will ultimately cause them to be unhappy, he says. Sutton says that extends to
how they show appreciation for you and your work.
People who are exceptional leaders of other people have typically
been through training and had good mentors and believe in providing that for
the people who work for them, Seagraves says. They use the skills they’ve
developed over time to help their employees learn and grow in their careers.
Sutton says employees typically love a boss who "has their
back." That means they can trust you to advocate for them, be honest, give
them meaningful work, and provide a supportive and protective environment as
much as possible.
"We teach our doctoral students [that] one of the fundamental
things that a manager does is to reduce interference and interruptions from the
larger organization so people can get their work done," he says.
Habits Of Well-Liked Bosses
What does it take
to become one the those bosses that people love? Here are 10 traits those
popular leaders have.
THEY ARE CLEAR COMMUNICATORS
Good bosses seek the input of employees
and make sure they understand what’s going on around them, says Jeffrey J. Fox,
founder of management consulting firmFox & Company, Inc. and author
of How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and
Keeping the Best Employees. The best bosses engage employees in
dialogue about the company and their input is valued, he says. They’re not
ambiguous and you always know where you stand with them.
"Employees hate ambiguity. You’ve got to get ahead of the
ever-running rumor mill," he says.
THEY TRUST THEIR EMPLOYEES
In addition to being good communicators, good bosses hire for
intelligence, integrity, and an I-can-do-it attitude rather than just
experience—then trust their employees to perform, Fox says. If you hire good
people, you don’t need to micromanage or waste energy on worrying whether the
work will get done.
If
you hire good people, you don’t need to micromanage or waste energy on worrying
whether the work will get done.
"Sometimes a boss is like a master gardener," Fox says.
"You're constantly in the garden, pruning, trimming, fertilizing,
watering, getting rid of dead plants, and making sure there's no bad insects,"
he says.
THEY’RE CONSISTENT
Running hot and cold doesn’t bode well
for a boss’s ability, according to a February 2016 study published in
the Academy of Management Journal. While some may think that being
treated fairly sometimes is better than never, the study found that employees
in environments where fair treatment was inconsistent had more psychological
stress than both people who were treated consistently fairly and consistently
unfairly.
ADVERTISEMENT
THEY UNDERSTAND YOUR WORK
It’s easier to be a good boss if you
understand the work that your employees are doing, says Robert I. Sutton, professor of
management science at Stanford University and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to be the Best . . . And Learn from the Worst.
When
employees know that it’s not the end of the world if they make a mistake or an
idea doesn’t work out, they start sharing and collaborating more.
The notion of a general manager who can manage anything isn’t
true, he says. You have to know the nuts and bolts of what your employees are
doing and the challenges they may face in order to manage them well.
THEY LET YOU MAKE MISTAKES
Mistakes are going to happen and if your employees are afraid to
tell you, it’s only going to make things worse, Fox says. He says he recently
worked with a client where employees were so afraid to make mistakes that they
did nothing. When employees know that it’s not the end of the world if they
make a mistake or an idea doesn’t work out, they start sharing and
collaborating more, he says.
THEY’RE SELF-AWARE
"The best bosses are in tune with what it feels like to work
for them," Sutton says. When you’re working in a hierarchy, the people
above you tend to have more power, and if they’re unaware of the environment
they create, it can be miserable, he says. Bosses who understand the
environment they create for their workers and have a good idea of their own
weaknesses and strengths are better able to mitigate stress and other workplace
issues.
THEY MANAGE UP
Effective bosses work with their own supervisors as advocates for
the people who report to them, Sutton says. If your boss is well-respected
among the upper ranks within the company, he or she can be more effective in
negotiating on behalf of his or her team.
THEY APPRECIATE YOU AS A PERSON
Good bosses know you have a life—and
actually care about that, says entrepreneur Bill Seagraves, author of Be Your Best Boss: Reinvent Yourself from Employee to Entrepreneur. He believes it’s
critical to allow people time for their families and personal obligations and
to ensure they’re taking the time they need for themselves. Failure to do so
will ultimately cause them to be unhappy, he says. Sutton says that extends to
how they show appreciation for you and your work.
THEY BELIEVE IN DEVELOPMENT
People who are exceptional leaders of other people have typically
been through training and had good mentors and believe in providing that for
the people who work for them, Seagraves says. They use the skills they’ve
developed over time to help their employees learn and grow in their careers.
THEY HAVE YOUR BACK
Sutton says employees typically love a boss who "has their
back." That means they can trust you to advocate for them, be honest, give
them meaningful work, and provide a supportive and protective environment as
much as possible.
"We teach our doctoral students [that] one of the fundamental
things that a manager does is to reduce interference and interruptions from the
larger organization so people can get their work done," he says.
GWEN MORAN
http://www.fastcompany.com/3059409/10-habits-of-well-liked-bosses?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-weekly-newsletter&position=5&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=05062016
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