I actually find this topic extremely interesting, not least because it seems very key in how much people enjoy their workplaces – or not!
I have had a fair number of bosses in my time. I have realised that the qualities that make a great boss for me, don’t necessarily suit everyone but reflecting over the years, here are my ‘desirables’ for a boss (a composite from the many I have had) :
- Makes the job as much as possible about the job – not about them.
- Manages ‘hierarchy’ in a way that doesn’t feel like there is one.
- Is good at balancing proactive (e.g. direction and policy) and reactive (e.g. support and dealing with problems) time.
- Engages the team to make decisions with some collaboration but also knows when they have to take the responsibility to make the final decision. There’s a finely tuned balance with this – too much collaboration really slows things down, not enough feels like a dictatorship. (Part of reasonable collaboration is about getting ‘buy in’ to changes – although I will also admire a boss who says, ‘we just have to do this, let’s make it as palatable as possible!’)
- Has integrity – which for me means – honesty, owning up to mistakes, all things that inspire trust, treating everyone with respect and in a way that always values their contribution. It also means that the positive values they start with remain steadfast – even under stress and pressure.
- Is conscientious. It’s quite hard not to resent someone who is paid a lot more than you who doesn’t complete key tasks or do what they say they’re going to do!
- Is realistic about and makes themselves aware of the significant pitfalls and difficulties of everyone’s job and doesn’t dismissively gloss over them in a pretence that staff can always just ‘get on with it’! Subsequently aims to problem solve and lessen difficulties.
- Plays to people’s strengths to maximise everyone’s efforts. Having observed some bosses try to ‘make’ everyone deliver exactly the same output (down to every fine detail) and other bosses who simply work out who is good at what and play to strengths – the latter seems to work better as helps individuals shine and obviously optimises overall team performance.
- Enables everyone to feel comfortable to speak up.
- Is appreciative of everyone’s basic contribution. Also acknowledges and shows appreciation for those who go ‘above and beyond’ their role but doesn’t then make this the expectation for everyone. (Doing the job adequately is OK-especially for lower-paid roles.)
- Holds people accountable and ensures workload is spread reasonably fairly.
- Doesn’t ask others to do something they would not be prepared to do themselves (with the exception of when specific expertise is require to complete a particular task!)
- Cares about the wellbeing of people in their team within the work setting (and outside it for issues that could have significant impact on their work).
- Builds the ‘team-playing’ and doesn’t inadvertently (or deliberately) do anything that pitches team-members against each other. This one seems huge! I’ve worked with bosses that have excelled in this and it makes for a delightful team to be part of.
- Self-aware – good at stress management, regulated, measured, authentic, empathetic, as objective as possible, can apologise for errors, able to change their minds in the light of new information, continuously reflective etc. (This one sounds like a tall order but one boss I had was easily all these things- and more!)
- Is very clear in communication and expectations.
- Can be assertive when needed. (Requires emotional intelligence.)
- Does not patronise with ‘star workers’ or gimmicks that superficially aim to motivate but actually demoralise through encouraging competition and comparison rather than team-playing.
- Trusts everyone to do a good job and if they fall short, offers the support needed to get to a more capable place.
- Listens to their team – with humility and the aim of really understanding issues to help solve them and act in the best interest of the team’s optimisation to do the job!
(I would be interested to hear others’ criteria!)
‘Boss’ is a responsibility some people seem to take on exceptionally well and others less so. Workplaces (which can be very pressured and stressful places and therefore don’t always bring out the best in people) often impose a hierarchy that doesn’t necessary have the most effective person at its top. Some people in charge wield ‘power’ or authority in a way that might alienate people, divide a team, gain disrespect and cause more discontent than a workplace can thrive with.
It does seem to me that some people wear ‘power’ better than others but absolute power and authority are not really what optimises the effectiveness of many teams. It seems the danger of authority is it can runaway with itself and becomes increasingly autocratic- especially when you add pressure and stress to a situation – both of which seem workplace ‘norms’ these days.
Perhaps ‘power’ can only do well if it has some humbling checks in place: any leader could benefit from scrutiny and feedback from those they are managing but it takes bravery to listen to feedback and even more to act on it objectively – more than perhaps some can’t muster.
But also, if a boss starts out with a set of beneficial values (and most of us are well-intentioned – certainly at the start of a new post, before the pressure becomes more overwhelming), it might be wise to build in a ‘values (and associated behaviours) check’ that can be returned to, to monitor what, if anything, has deviated from such positive intention.
I think my conclusion (to this cursory post that skims lightly over a very complex topic) is, the bosses I have really enjoyed working with keep communication very two-way, open and honest. They are still in charge (and are paid more to take on the responsibility of making ultimate and ‘bigger’ decisions), but with the understanding the aim is to achieve objectives as effectively as possible, not slip into focusing on control, using authority primarily to protect their self-image, squash perceived, ‘threat’, maintain status or sense of superiority – rather than to serve the best interests of the team they are in charge of.
I can think of a few people with global power that seem to have lost sight of this. And here I might just let this quote sit:
Frank Herbert, (the author of Dune) described:
‘All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people tend to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.’