Are you a good boss?

Delighted by iTunes U, this morning I listened to a lecture by Jill Geisler talking about the “12 signs [showing] you’re a good boss.” I’ll start with that…

12 signs you’re a good boss

1. You’re a good boss if you feel great helping others in your team to do a good job. In fact, as a team leader, your own success is measured by the members of your team!

2. You don’t treat every member of the team in the same way. You know them well enough to treat them as individuals.

3. You’re aware that your title (The Boss) gives you power; and power is a good thing. However, it’s your intelligence and integrity that give you influence. Influence is an incomparably stronger leadership characteristic than power.

4. You give concrete and sincere feedback… and you share it frequently and continually in order for your team members to be on the same page as you.

5. You’re also a good boss if certain people from your team quote you from the various conversations and emails they’ve exchanged with you. This is because your words leave a mark on them.

6. You’re a good boss if you react and solve problems in a constructive manner. This encourages people to even share bad news with you when they occur without feeling intimidated. Then (all of) you can react on time.

7. You clearly communicate messages and goals! There is no incoherence. People see the bigger picture, hence are able to understand their roles and responsibilities.

8. You employ people smarter than you because they inspire you. When you look at your team, you see at least one person worthy of replacing you!

9. Your team members have a sense of (co)ownership when it comes to ideas, initiatives, and projects even in those cases when it’s you who is the initiator or originator of the idea. That’s because you know how to share strength, control, and merits.

10. You’re aware that decisions have to be made on a hierarchical level below you. You’ve established a set of strategic principles within your project (client, company), hence you even encourage your team to make decisions in certain situations based on these pre-established strategic principles. A team appreciates such trust!

11. You’re a good boss if you’re always willing to learn. You perpetually find ways to improve your knowledge and skills. That’s how you’ll become a good person.

Only a good person can become a good boss.

12. Your team members undoubtedly know where you stand. They have to know. That’s the only way the can support you and help you.

I think that sometimes we tend to forget that as good as we are, good results only come if the entire team is good.

We evolve due to individual characteristics, but it is because of team qualities that we exist.

In the end, I recommend Dan Pink’s video on the surprising truth about team motivation. Within cognitive activities, every member must feel that they have:

• • A sense of autonomy
  • A sense of mastery which helps people get a sense that they can get better at something
  • A sense of purpose! A purpose relating to work, the company, the project that overcomes simple evaluations.

I am very thankful for having such a supportive and understanding team, and I am proud of every member individually!

Cheers!

DDj ;)