Friday, September 28, 2012

Good Boss/Bad Boss


You may have heard of a book published several years ago called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, about how differences among people in how they think about money, and the choices that flow from those mindsets, can make an impact on financial success and independence.  I can’t say if this book is true or not, but I do know that supervision, like money management, is largely dependent on the mindset of the supervisor and the choices she makes as a result of that point of view, so today, I want to summarize some of the recent supervision tips I’ve seen and provide you with links if you’d like to know more.  Think of it as the supervision version of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

First, let’s talk about the things bad supervisors do:

They call too many meetings and then show up late while others wait.  This is according to a leader who regularly surveyed his staff but it is often true in many places.  It’s a small thing but it sends the message that their team’s time isn’t important, and no one works well where they think they aren’t respected.

They actively or passively stymie progress on work projects.  These roadblocks can be created in innumerable ways:  supervisors not understanding the actual duties of their teams and the time it takes to accomplish certain tasks, not providing clear vision or guidance, giving conflicting goals, and not responding to requests in a timely way.   The feeling that their boss is creating roadblocks kills an employee’s desire to work hard and accomplish things.

They lack self-awareness and are clueless about how their actions influence their teams.  Bad supervisors do a lot of things to get in the way and, when the team reacts to this, bad bosses blame them instead of looking in the mirror.  That’s not to say that individual employees who are ineffective don’t exist, but…if a supervisor thinks his entire team is ineffective or dysfunctional, the first step is to figure out how the supervisor is contributing to it.

They blame or retaliate against those who try to speak up about problems.  Shakespeare told us not to “shoot the messenger,” and some supervisors have missed this important lesson.  This punishment of anyone delivering bad news stops the flow of any constructive information and what organization can survive with it?

Now that we’ve seen some of the “don’ts” of effective supervision, let’s talk about the things good supervisors do:

They understand the power of relationships.  They know that the work world is more of an ecosystem, with partnerships and collaborations, than a war that needs to be won.  This approach increases flexibility and information flow, which leads to better decisions.

They treat employees as colleagues, not robots or naughty children.  They set high standards – and, yes, that means holding people accountable – but they understand that every person is important, from the person who empties the trash to the CEO.  They set a vision and direction, hire and train good people, and inspire their teams, not crush them with rigid processes and excessive control.

They help their teams understand change.  They neither worship the status quo, nor change things just for the sake of change.  They preserve effective practices and change the ineffective….and they know the difference between the two.  The also involve people in the change process where possible and explain the changes to make people more comfortable.

They do what they can to make work satisfying.  Work is going to have at least some drudgery or administrivia as part of the day – otherwise it would be called “vacation” -- but good bosses want their teams to be happy and satisfied and they work hard to make that happen.

What other “good boss” or “bad boss” beliefs or practices have you observed?

Want to know more?  Here are the resource pieces for this post.



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