Good Boss

A little while back I blogged on my fear of being a bad boss and some of the challenges of management. Right now, I'm knee deep in personnel crisis, but that's my job.

Yertle asked about books on being a good boss. I''ll have to think on this a little, but I do have two lists to consider.

One of my mentors, a man in his 80's who spent his career in teaching and HR and is now involved in volunteering and politics, gave me this list.

The Fundamentals of Leadership

1. Establish who is in charge.
2. Know what you want to accomplish.
3. Know what you want each person you manage to accoumplish.
4. Let them know what you expect.
5. Find out what your employees want.
6. Find our what your employees expect of you.
7. Take being a role model seriously.

These seem so simple, but it is amazing how many people don't follow them.

Another list for thought came from a speaker at my Rotary. His premise is that you need to make your employees feel 3 things to be effective:

Make Your Employee Feel:

1. Influential - they need to feel like they can influence the direction of things, how work is done, what work is done, what decisions are made, etc.

2. Significant - see Dilbert and think the opposite. It's simple, people need to feel like they matter and are worth your time.


3. Capable - make sure they have the tools to do what you task them to do. Think of parenting and how you try to get your kids to feel like they can do things in baby steps.