I got one of the best promotions ever at work: the kind where you get more responsibility and headaches, but no more money. I’m a “boss” for the first time in my life, and to make things more fun some of my people have 10 years more experience than I do. One guy even is twice my age (though in his defense I’m only 26).
So how do I make sure I don’t end up as one of those “bosses” that everyone hates? (technically I’m a Team Lead, and none of my “resources” work for my company, so I have little power over them) What lessons as being bosses, or from dealing with good/bad bosses might your collective wisdom offer?
Don’t be a dickhead Be fair – no favoritism other than as based on merit Don’t try to be everyone’s best buddy. You are their boss Be reasonable with people. Rules can be bent if it makes sense. Use your power (if any) when you need to. Don’t use it when you don’t need to. Be honest with people. Don’t tell people they did a really good job when they didn’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give your constructive criticism in a nice way. Listen to people, but don’t look like a spineless waffler who couldn’t make a decision to save his life. Don’t let people take advantage of you Don’t be a dickhead
Congratulations! Here are a few traits I’ve always appreciated in a boss. First, I like someone that listens well and who doesn’t act like s/he has somewhere better to be when I’m talking. If people sense you respect them, they are likely to return that respect. I also like someone who is decisive and who has my back. With responsibility comes blame and kudos; good bosses know how to take blame without throwing their team members under the bus, and good bosses know how to share the kudos with the team that helped make it happen. Finally, I like a boss who works just as hard, if not harder, than the people under him/her.
P.S. Don’t be too defensive about your age. If you act like a leader, people will treat you like one no matter how old you are.
What if I’m already a dickhead? I guess some companies would say I was ready to be a boss, just needed the job title.
“Be honest with people” is the one that I b!tch about to myself all the time. I have a co-worker (now ex) who does horrible HORRIBLE work and no one has told her. I will not hesitate to be polite and constructive in telling her the ways I would like to see her improve.
It’s amazing how much you can learn from previous (and current) bosses.
I had one very recent boss who always tried to give credit to those of us who carried out his orders, but he did it in such a cheesy way that whoever he said it to had to think “Well this guy is totally lying to cover for his cruddy staff”.
There’s no doubt (despite the amount of time I spend lurking on ST) that I work hard (sound full of myself eh?), my issue will be delegating and letting people carry out tasks their way instead of making them do it how I would have done it. But knowing that is half the battle (yes, I’m 26 and just quoted GI Joe!)
Thanks for the advice! (and I dug your post on your kids first swim practice)
PS: I don’t think I’m hung up on age, but will keep it in mind. For me it isn’t age as it is proficiency and skill, which is why I’m a team lead and others are not (again, I sound so humble eh?)
Ok, I’ve been in management roles for the last five years, with some success (at least I think so!) - best piece of advice I got was…
if you use a stick to beat your staff with, eventually, they will beat you with the same stick.
Basically, if you treat them rough, you will get rough treatment back. If you treat them well, you will still get the odd shithead who doesn’t reciprocate - but you have to let that go. You have to use your ‘power’ wisely. If you never raise your voice, and you are always reasonable with people, they will know you mean business when you tell them you are annoyed/disappointed in them.
And remember, if you make a mistake, it will be noticed. Best to fess up, and fix it. Admitting to people that you are fallible is a great way to get them onside.
Surround yourself with the best people (if possible), and let them do the work according to their ability and your trust in them. Your main task should be in providing them the environment to get their jobs done. That means protecting them from your boss, other bosses, waste of time meetings, and the like. Make sure they are working together.
I may be bucking a corporate tradition here, but I would suggest this one:
Give your subordinates credit for good ideas and hard work. Too many bosses take all the credit when their employees do well. I would think the surest way to make an employee stop working hard for you is to take credit for their work.
I’m 49 and I’ve owned my own small business that’s grown to 40 employees over the last decade. I might have grown more, but I think going into debt to do so is stupid. I’m practically debt free, so I’m small, but solid as a rock.
The key piece of advice I would offer is to communicate to all your subordinates. Make sure they know what the overall objectives of the organization are. When they know that, they can more easily understand how their jobs contribute to meeting those objectives. They can get on board.
Also, do your best to respect their time and their abilities. Don’t give them meaningless tasks. Corporations are notorious for giving people meaningless busy-work. If a manager I trust tells me he needs a piece of equipment to enhance efficiency in a department, I don’t make him waste a bunch of time on cost justification analysis. I get him the equipment. If it doesn’t pan out, lessons learned for the future.
Keep any promises you make. I promised my people years ago that they’d share in the company’s profits. At the time, there weren’t any. The first time there were, they got nice bonus checks. The rest was history. We’ve never been in the red since. Sometimes I cringe at what I hand out in bonuses, but then I recall how much more I cringed at being in the red.
My people know where we’re going and how we plan to get there. They also know they’re going to share in the profits when we reach our goals. It works.
Great post! The worst boss I ever worked for never admitted when he was wrong as he came from the “show no weakness” school of management. I worked for him for 4.5 years and never once did I hear “I’m sorry”.
Be human, admit when you’re wrong without complete self-flagellation - and don’t beat them when they screw up either. My experience shows that when good people screw up, they remember and fix it - you don’t need to remind them. People are a lot more motivated by opportunity than by getting hit. There is a difference between fear and respect - if you’re an mean ass, they’ll fear you, but they’ll never respect you.
Spend $7 and order this - hands down the best article I’ve ever read on motivating people.
Here are the few pointers I’ve picked up, mostly from making mistakes after being promoted to “boss” also at a very young age.
Don’t react with emotion. If necessary, delay personnel decisions until you’ve had 24 hours and maybe a few workouts to kick around options on how to handle situations.
Communicate your expectations and hold staff accountable for meeting them, but it is your job to make sure they know what is expected.
Don’t let the bad fruit linger too long, it can ruin all the good fruit around it. Some people are simply in the wrong job and it is your job to axe them.
Don’t pretend to know more than you do.
Like someone else said, you’re their boss not their friend. Don’t socialize with the people you supervise. Don’t play favorites at work even though you’ll like some more than others.
Most importantly, don’t get your honey where you get your money!
As someone who sort of “acquired” some leadership responsibilities over the years (fraternity treasurer was stealing money, I was chosen to clean up the mess - the guy who ran all the fraternities on campus didn’t do squat, so I was selected to help unify and provide a bit of good PR, lead a new project team into reducing design to production time by almost 70%, and numerous other situations over the past 20 years that I didn’t really ask for ;-), I have a bit of advice. This is based off some horrible “managing” or “supervising” done by people who have acquired “power” and don’t know what to do with it.
First, go to http://www.gordontraining.com/store/index.cfm and buy the LET Book. I believe it’s a MUST have for anyone who manages/supervises, or more importantly, needs to LEAD people. My father utilized it with upper management at Motorola back in it’s heyday, and I learned from it and implemented it in college. Leaders are not born. They typically are taught - although great leaders learn those things on their own.
Second, consider the fact that you don’t have “subordinates”. You are simply the leader of your team. Utilize input, really LISTEN to their ideas/thoughts (you’ll find this under a section called active listening) on issues, and once you determine the path, help them to reach the same conclusion on that path.
Don’t wield power. Biggest mistake of anyone who is a boss. The first time you say “because I said so”…you’ve now lost any loyalty. You want these people to follow you through tough times?
Lead by example. The best leaders I’ve seen are typically the hardest workers, the most dedicated, and the most gratious. The key is to treat people like…well…people. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum where large (and more typically) small company presidents get into the “it’s our/my money” syndrome, thus do as I say. There are some, but very few, who truly understand the advantage in numbers (having everyone fight for the same belief as opposed to just having them fight for him/her).
In five seconds, think about a boss who truly inspired you (rare, I know). Be like him (her).
In one minute: when you think about that great boss, consider what happened when you were with them. I’ll bet that what happened was that:
When they were with you, you had their full attention
When you explained your issue, problem, situation, they listened without offering any immediate advice.
Normally you then worked out a solution yourself
See, this management thing is way easier than you think. People are innately self motivated and want to do a good job. Give them the opportunity to do so by describing the outcome, but not being prescriptive about how they do it.
If you tell them what to do all the time, your team will only be as smart as you are. You’ll be the limitation. Seek their advice: in the end they are the ones you have to work out for themselves what they should do
Be authentic, be yourself, that’s what you’re judged on. Your team will forgive all of your faults as long as your not pretending about anything. You don’t have to do anything to anybody to get them to perform, all you have to do is be sorted out yourself.
I think you are getting some good advice here. What I’ll add has been commented on by some, but I’ll put my own spin on it.
Publicly, take blame yourself when something goes wrong in your department, but pass praise on to those who deserve it. People really appreciate if you stand by them publicly. That doesn’t mean that privately you shouldn’t hesitate to kick ass.
Don’t try to be everyone’s friend. You should strive to be respected first and foremost, then liked. But, that doesn’t mean you should be an ass.
You’ve heard about the “Kiss up, Kick down” boss? Don’t be that. Don’t just tell your boss what he/she wants to hear, that is, don’t kiss up. And never kick down. Be professional with everyone. Stand up for your people.
I know this is rambling, but I hope you get the point.
try to get a budget where you can take everyone out for lunch or happy hour at least once a quarter. and you pay the bill. people love this.
when someone performs well, gloat over them. most people are motivated over recognition…
create some sort of super performance club. where people can get recognized for doing good work. make it competitive and quarterly. this will give them something to aim for, and when they make it, it’s a huge deal and they feel like king or queen of the world.
realize when everybody is tired, or when everybody has performed well. then give them the afternoon off on Friday, and take the blame if your boss gets pissed. do it out of nowhere and they will love you for life.
be available. open door, down to earth, i work for you, type of personality. bosses like this are the ones workers would give their life for. go to bat for your people at all times and promote them as much as possible. never sabatoge anyone. if you’ve got someone who can’t but it, coach them, and then if necessary fire them. it’s not worth it to hold them back, or bog down the rest of your team. you want to send the message of excellence at all times, all days. this will make you a super hero.