What Makes a Great Boss?
Perhaps you’ve heard someone say, “That person is just a natural leader.” What do they mean? A natural leader is someone whose passion, developed skills, and work ethic inspire, encourage, and empower those around them. Being a natural leader is more about having something that creates natural followers than it is being born with a certain talent; this is something that may be developed. After all, great bosses aren’t bossy and lousy leaders don’t lead. It’s about service, not about titles or even terminology.
People get hung up on semantics. I’ve had people say I shouldn’t use the word “bosses” because nobody likes being bossed. I’ve had people say I should be careful about mixing leadership and managing and supervising terminology.
My take: effective leaders are focused on serving their team members’ needs. Great bosses remove employee frustrations regularly. The best bosses set their team members up for success – not failure.
Research from Gallup has shown one-way path to success is an emphasis on career growth opportunities. “One way that managers can improve people’s status is to help them discover and become known for what they’re good at. Employees are twice as likely to be engaged at work if they have a manager who focuses on their strengths or positive characteristics.”
I’ve had terrible bosses who had every leadership certification imaginable. I’ve also had inspiring, amazing bosses that hadn’t ever taken a leadership class or read a leadership book. What ensures leadership is effective, productive, and moving the organization forward if tangible certificates and training aren’t guarantees? Or to put it another way, what makes great leaders so great?
Great bosses remove employee frustrations regularly. The best bosses set their team members up for success – not failure.
A few things make my list.
- Authentic care makes my list.
Leaders with authentic care genuinely LOVE their team members. They show that care by delegating authority and responsibility to talented, engaged staff. They create flexible work schedules so the demands of elderly parents or young kids in programs are nimbly addressed without guilt.
- Clear values and behaviors make my list.
Those leaders who exhibit the clearly defined values and behaviors their organization upholds pay as much attention to the quality of human interactions in their team or company as they do to results. Mean, rude, dismissive behavior – by anyone in any position – is not tolerated by those leaders.
- Keeping commitments makes my list.
Leaders who make and keep their promises not only fulfill their roles and responsibilities but in doing so they also help their staff make and keep their promises. Performance promises are important, as many tasks rely on the fulfillment and integration of other tasks. Citizenship, integrity, and teamwork promises are equally important. Holding people accountable for performance and values is a vital skill.
Recognizing and encouraging the development of strengths, modeling desired behaviors, and simply doing what you say you’re going to do when you’ve said you do it – these are the things that make a great leader worthy of their title.
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