6 ways to be a great boss & leader

7/29/2019 6 Ways to Be a Great Boss & Leader

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6 ways to be a great boss

If you can't stand your boss and dislike your job because of it, you are just a small part of a large communitywho feels the same. But what if you have recently moved into the role of a teamleader, boss or people

manager yourself? While the 'perfect boss' is a utopian concept, here is a quick checklist that will save you the heartburn of dealing with attrition and unhappy employees.

Always meet your people with a great smile A smile can make a lot of difference. Always be cheerful and energetic and spread the attitude within your team or organisation. It drives great results. A smile and a warm handshake can wear off the stress that mostemployees go through, not to mention that it adds to your desirability factor at work. Also, smiling iscontagious, and most people will find it easy to forgive you even if you happen to be a bit demanding onoccasions.

Catch people doing things rightPeople make mistakes and sometimes they can repeat them, sometimes doing irreparable damage. But,have patience and let them grow. When they do things right, find them out and tell them it's a valuablecontribution thay have made. Every interaction with your colleagues in the office is either a deposit or awithdrawal. As important as the Big Picture is, it will mean little if the boss shows little value for his teammembers' performance on a regular basis. Appreciate generously

There is nothing more encouraging than appreciation for the smallest of difference one makes. For eg, whenyou enter the office after struggling hard with the traffic jam and the office looks clean or different, appreciatethe person behind the effort and make him/ her "feel" how important the effort is to the organisation. Sendyour team emails, create a section where people can give compliments, etc. Positive feedback helps inbuilding long-lasting habits. If you take certain positive behaviour for granted, you will be wasting time inreinforcing them later.

Be ready to say "I am sorry'"

If you erupt in a meeting, criticise a colleague's work or make ill-timed comments that you regret, how do youbounce back? Apologise immediately to the targeted person and to everyone around. Don't offer a long

justification about the work pressure or a possible misunderstanding like most bosses do. Just say "I shouldnot have reacted that way" and "I am sorry". This will show that you are professional and reflects positivelyon your character. It takes years to build up a reputation, and only seconds to destroy it. No matter what,don't snap or your people will think of you as a 'reactive boss'. Help people prepare their goals and create a checklistBe clear in communicating the desired goals from an individual in a team or the team as a whole. You shouldknow your people, their strengths and opportunity areas. Team your people in a way where everyone learns

and compliments each other's strengths. Read your way to success

A good manager not only coaches an employee to develop a skill but also helps in conditioning it as abehavior. In simple words, become a mentor, ie, a wise and trusted counselor/ teacher/ trainer, who can actas a catalyst for growth and nurture potential and talent. Building teams is not a one-time effort but aneveryday process. Good managers involve, engage and inspire their teams on a daily basis.

Stay sharp

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Read industry publications, reports and magazines and be aware of market trends. Your knowledge willreflect when you communicate with your team and they will look to you for advice and information. They willalso talk positively about you with other members of the team. There is nothing better than third partypublicity as it establishes you as a thought leader within your team

Leadership: Do you have it in you?

Nothing succeeds like success, they say. We all want to be successful in our careers, be it in our roles as individuals,team players or team leaders. Taking responsibility for one's actions is a key component of success as an individual. Andtaking responsibilty for what your team does is a key component of leadership. When one doesn't do that, failure is justaround the corner.

At your workplace, you will often hear people passing the buck when something goes wrong. These people are definitelynot going very high up the ladder. You will find most of them projecting the same pattern in their reasoning and approachto life, as well -- that nothing was their fault, including the incidents that happen in their personal lives as well.

Blame and excuses: hallmarks of an unsuccessful leader

Avoiding responsibility in one's personal life carries over into one's professional life, and vice versa. Excuses for failureand the choices you make at workplace fuel dysfunctional thinking and, subsequently, undesirable behaviour andactions. "Making excuses, rather than taking 100 per cent responsibility for your actions, decisions, and their outcomes,is the hallmark of future failures," feels Anjali Singh, a 27-year old manager with a finance company in Delhi.

This is why taking responsibility is so powerfully important and is the essence of what can make or break a leader.

Take responsibility at workplace

Taking responsibility is the underlying factor behind success at work. If someone in your team makes a mistake, you

must be able to admit it, take the necessary action and then proceed. This is something that many do not understand. Noleader can be successful without being accountable for his/her own actions.

Being responsible ensures that even when events outside your control go awry, you can at least determine how you willreact to the situation. You can make the situation a disaster or you can use it as an opportunity to learn and to grow.

"My friend is a manager in a new startup venture. Every time we meet, I am taken aback by her failure to takeresponsibility for what's going on in her work and life. Everything is always someone else's fault. She explains away eachproblem with reasons about why she can't influence the outcome," says Anjali.

"We are continuously confronted with external pressures at work that affect us greatly. It is how we react to thesepressures that largely determine what we accomplish in our career. Those who take responsibility and recognise their own weakness in the way it relates to the problem are the ones who grow and accomplish. Those who blame others or ignore their roles, stagnate and achieve less," says Rishi Gupta, 29, a manager in a telecom company.

Why people don't admit their mistakes

"Mistakes bring about a feeling of tension and anxiety within the individual. At such times, the mind seeks rational waysof escaping the situation. A range of defence mechanisms can be triggered. These defence mechanisms aresubconsciously employed to protect the ego and they tend to distort, transform, or otherwise falsify reality. One usesthese 'deceptions' to avoid facing issues of guilt, failure, fear, emotional pain, or embarrassment. In distorting reality,there is a change in perception which helps to lessen anxiety," says psychologist Dr. Kanchan Misra. There are manydefence mechanisms. Some examples are:

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Denial : Claiming/believing what is true to be false Projection : Attributing uncomfortable feelings to others Displacement : Redirecting emotions to a substitute target Rationalisation : Creating false but credible justifications Reaction formation : Overeacting in an opposite way to the fear Intellectualisation : Taking an objective viewpoint in order to ignore the emotional aspect

Regression : Going back to acting like a child Repression : Pushing uncomfortable thoughts into the subconscious Sublimation : Redirecting 'wrong' urges into socially acceptable actions

"Some defence mechanisms are healthy. However, we sometimes either use them at the wrong time or overuse them,which can be destructive," says Dr Misra. For example, a leader whose team keeps failing, may misuse defencemechanisms such as rationalisation, projection, or denial, often.

Common defensive expressions used at the workplace

"It was not my fault." (blaming others without accepting personal responsibility) "It wasn't all that important." (belittling the act) "It happened a long time ago." (implying it doesn't matter anymore) "They made me do it." (blaming others for a personal wrong act) "There was no other way out." (justification of wrong) "It only happened once." (rationalisation) "Everyone does it." (rationalisation) "I am only human." (indirectly blaming god) "Well, no one is perfect." (general comparison to shift the guilt) "The contract we lost was not a good one anyway." (a case of 'sour grapes' -- another defense mechanism)

How to take responsibility as a leader

"You have to be emotionally mature enough to see your decisions through and deal with the outcomes, whether positiveor negative," says Rishi. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind:

Acknowledge that your work is your responsibility

No matter how much you try to blame others for the events at work, each event is the outcome of choices you made andare making. Demonstrate accountability.

Make no excuses

Listen to the little voice inside your head. "The next time you catch yourself making an excuse, whether for a misseddeadline or an unmet goal, gently remind yourself -- no excuses," says Anjali. Excuses fuel failure.

Listen to yourself when you speak

"Observe yourself talking with colleagues and friends. In your conversation, do you hear yourself blaming others for things that aren't going exactly as you wish? If you can sense your blaming patterns, you can stop them," says Dr Misra.

Take feedback seriously

If someone gives you feedback that you make excuses and blame others for your troubles, control your defensivereaction, explore examples and deepen your understanding of the situation.

Thus, when events at the workplace exert pressure on you, you can respond positively or negatively. Those who respondpositively and take responsibility rather than blame others or be indifferent are the ones who grow as leaders.

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Consequently, they develop the foundation for great positive responses, great achievement, and great success inleadership.

So, are you ready to take responsibility for your actions?

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6 ways to be a great boss & leader

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