Ever wondered why when you scroll pages on social media there are quotes ending with ‘Like a Boss’, ’Market yourself like a boss’, ‘Eat it like a boss’, ‘Handle your Shit like a Boss’, ‘I’m a CEO, Bitch!’ What can one assume of this word ‘Boss unless one gives power to it? Power to choose, power to lose, power to stick, power to let go, power to fail, power, power to set an example!
“Power resides where people think it resides. And people can make you forget you’re a ‘Boss’, if you don’t live up to your position!”. Boss is the power of any company. Company is powerful as ‘Boss’ because again, there is a saying: “People do not join companies, they join bosses. They pick their bosses not a job!”
Bosses are in every company, no matter the size. And by size, we meant employee strength. Boss assigns tasks to all his employees and gets things done on or before the deadline. Mostly a boss’s work is to get things sorted with the most affordable and best solution!
Many a times, employees give feedback. They often include the following lines:
- Boss/Line Manager was Cruel.
- Line Manager was not appropriate.
- Boss wasn’t liked by anyone in our company.
- Boss is careless, he comes anytime in our office.
- I want to get rid of my boss, I am fed up of him.
- My Reporting Manager is very unprofessional.
- My boss is useless, he would never listen to me or my problems.
- He is a worthless boss, he is never satisfied, he never appreciates my work.
If you hear these things about yourselves from your former employees, (you will know from your HR in any Exit Interview Process or a Grapevine) it’s time you need some tips on being a good boss:
How to be a Good Boss?
Don’t be bitter, be a better boss:
Being bitter will cut into your flourishing time. It can cut into your happy times and it can keep people from whom you may benefit, away from you. Part of being a boss is simply handling things like a boss instead of blowing up into a tantrum of negative emotions that won’t serve you anything. Choose better over bitter. Keep calm.
Appreciate your Employees:
Know that without them you cannot succeed. Appreciate them where they need to be with a small note, an increment, a small treat, an email or a mouth of word could be enough. You need them as much as they need you. Just a simple ‘Thank you’ also helps a lot. Be approachable and know that an offline meeting is a luxury these days! Recognize your people’s talent and efforts. Value them and be valued. A Boss who says he is a boss is never really a good boss. You have to earn everything on this earth even the title called ‘Boss’!
Be there on time & be disciplined:
Never forget it was your dream when you were alone before you ever hired anyone to support you achieve your goals. If you cannot set an example by being there on time, expecting your employees to be on time is useless. No one ever achieved anything without any discipline. A boss is no good boss if he can’t be excited for his dream and expect employees to do that for you!
Don’t lick, if you can bite:
Gossiping about your employees to other employees or sharing their negative points with others will keep no room for an employee to improve. Instead they’ll do the same things with you. Handle employee issues like a real boss, tactfully, openly and transparently about work profile and their performance.
Be a good listener & approachable:
Employees deserve to be heard of their concerns and issues. That is how you effectively communicate and get things done. However, you’re the boss and you get to decide but there’s no harm in taking suggestions. Possibilities are, they may be more creative than you could ever be! Never assume that you know everything. Listening to people solves more problems. The more you listen to a person, the more you get to know about them and the more you know how to tackle them. Being boss is about handling and managing things. How will you possibly do that without knowing issues and just by assuming them? Listening wouldn’t put your position in jeopardy.
Be Approachable. Let employees come to you and talk to you. You just don’t know it all, that’s why you hired people right?
Be quick in your decisions & set deadlines:
Dreams come with a pillow, goals come with a plan. You can’t take so much time to make a call on something really important. Know that every decision you take is going to impact on your pockets and budget. Decide accordingly. Make a plan to execute things before or on your deadlines. Thinking wouldn’t solve problems, neither scrolling good and motivational quotes on internet will. However, doing the needful definitely will solve the problems! Don’t be micromanaging people and kill their and yours time. Respect their and your time and do things smartly like a boss!
Be Kind and polite:
Never came across any Successful Entrepreneur who hasn’t been humble, calm, kind and polite. Rudeness only shows that you are a weak person and it will only make people leave you! Bosses coach people since they got to have these skills inbuilt in you like being empathetic, being kind and polite. Try being kind and you will achieve more than you achieved before. Kind people are approachable. Nobody wants to be surrounded by rude, arrogant & overconfident people!
Treat everyone equally:
Men and Women can perform similar things no matter what age, caste or a degree. Being a boss, one constructs culture. You must be open minded and supporting equality. You will surely get more work done even in lesser time. There’s no job that both men and women can’t perform simply because of gender or caste. Don’t be so biased and judgmental. People say sky is the limit, but we say people have footprints on the moon as well.
Boss is flexible and fair in decisions:
Be fair with your employees and never base any decision because you’ve have had a good relationship with that person for long or any other reason. Time would not help you decide the dedication or efforts that person puts to help you reach your goals. Be there and stand up for what is right for the company instead of what is right for that employee. Being a boss, one has to base decisions on what is good for the company and not for an individual.
Be flexible in tasks, just because people report to you does not mean you should step back from small tasks or small wins. You have to be a part of every small thing in the company!
Hope this article was helpful. Do let us know if we have missed on to something!