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What a good boss should be like
It takes more than just patience to understand, motivate and
mentor a team the right way.Despite all the criticism and your
theories about what a good boss should be like, the life-
changing moment comes when you cross the line and stand behind
that intimidatingtable.
They're all around us-the high-nosed, irate bosses who somehow
never seem to
understand the ideas you're trying to put through. The
phenomenon of the bad boss has
been around much before eryl !treep played the iconic iranda
"riestly in the #$$%
flick The Devil &ears "rada. owever, as many leaders will
tell you, becoming a goodboss was definitely not a cakewalk for any
of them.
It takes more than just patience to understand, motivate and
mentor a team the right way.Despite all the criticism and your
theories about what a good boss should be like, the life-
changing moment comes when you cross the line and stand behind
that intimidatingtable. It is only then that it all sinks in. ere's
a look at how to keep panic at bay whiledonning a new role at the
workplace and building a strong team.
(elationship with former peers)ou used to be 'one of the girls'.
Then you got promoted. This could be a tricky situation
since you not only have new responsibilities, but you may also
be supervising a person
who was vying for the promotion. ow do you develop a plan to
gain the support of
former colleagues, get the work done and mould your
relationships with them* It isn't soeasy.
)ou must communicate to the group right at the start that you
need their support to makethis transition work. aintain the dignity
of your new position but at the same time
acknowledge the immense role played by your former peers in
creating a favourable
environment for your success. +(emember, when you wish to go
fast you go alone, butwhen you wish to go far you go together,+
advises shwin !hirali, regional director,
human resource, ccor India.
Define roles
o boss can work alone. Defining roles for each individual in
team projects will not onlykeep misunderstandings at bay, but will
also save the time and energy of the organisation.
egin by describing the job to your employees.
If your team doesn't clearly understand their basic
responsibilities, as well as how their
individual roles interact within the dynamics of the team, you
lose. Discover the key
result areas /0(s1 of each of the members of your team and also
of the team as a whole.
2iving the right job to the right person will not only bring you
better results but will alsoallow the employees to sharpen their
self-image as professionals.
rticulate e3pectations
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+ boss who is able to articulate e3pectations, meet goals and
yet not overburden the
team is the 'dream' boss for any team,+ says shutosh 2arg,
4hairman and anaging
Director, 2uardian 5ifecare. 4onveying your e3pectations about
your employees'performance and goals has to be a participative
process. )ou can communicate to your
team through discussions, group meetings or emails. 6se emails
only to send formal
messages, which your team may re7uire to refer to time and
again.
Discussions are important as the team feels they have a say in
the day-to-day activities.
&hile you do define goals for the team, the challenge is to
steer the brainstorming in sucha manner that the definitions come
from people themselves. It should appear to them as
though they are working towards something which they have set
out for themselves.
Involvement of the team in the process helps increase their
sense of ownership, making
them perform better.
Delegate work
If a boss does not delegate work, she will be overburdened and
have negative feelings
about the team. 8n the other hand, the team will be clueless
about what to do. Delegatingwork will help you groom your
employees, an essential part of your role as a leader.
+&hat you must remember while delegating work is that while
one delegates authority,
the responsibility remains with the boss,+ reminds .".! !ethi,
vice president, human
resource, 9indal Intellicom.
!etting up effective monitoring and control mechanisms must go
hand-in-hand with the
process of delegation. The basic goal should be to help one's
team members grow frombeing dependent to being independent.
8ffer your feedback
The classic rule that works when offering feedback is to give
the positive review first andthe negative review later. ever mince
your words, a direct approach is always better and
will help you gain the respect of your team. gain, while you
must always give a pat on
the back in public, it's better to offer criticism in
private.
egative feedback is crucial as it helps individuals develop.
+:ocus on helping the person
understand the issue at hand, how it developed, and how she can
address it moreeffectively,+ advises !hirali. owever, the choice of
words plays an important role, and
one must ensure that the message is conveyed without being
offensive. t all times,
remember that you're playing the role of a mentor in your
position as the boss.
5earn to listen
There is a clear distinction between hearing and listening. To
be an effective listener oneneeds to suspend judgement in order to
look at the matter in an objective light. s a
leader, you must curb the desire to pre-empt the conversation in
order to prove your
point.
lways allow the team to speak out first. &hile on the one
hand it will provide you time
to think and formulate your thoughts about the issue, it will
also help them vent their
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feelings. It assures the team that they will be heard before a
decision is taken and will
help them trust the final decision.
!et e3amples boss must set benchmarks for her team. +There is no
'how' involved with setting
e3amples,+ says !ethi. +)ou simply take up the responsibility of
the delegated tasks not
performed well.+ osses, who take only the praise for jobs done
well and try to pass onthe buck to juniors for all that is not done
well, lose their credibility with the team very
soon.
There is no substitute to 'walk the talk'. If you are not ready
to follow a rule, rest assured
that the others will follow the precedent. +I fill in my leave
forms and put my thumb
imprint on bio-metric attendance just like my junior colleagues.
6ltimately, a good boss
is one who is not over and above his team,+ says 2arg.
4ultivate team chemistry
Team chemistry can be developed only when you work as a part of
the team. + bosswho orders things around and wants the teammates to
clean up the mess created by her
fails to cultivate any kind of chemistry in her team,+ says
2arg. 5istening to the team,
asking for their inputs and constantly mentoring the team are
some of the time-testedmethods to develop team chemistry.
major issue most leaders face is whether to interfere or not
when a conflict within the
team arises. ccording to e3perts, if the conflict is trivial,
it's better that you stay out of itas a boss. owever, if it is big
enough to affect the unity of your team, then you need to
listen to both parties individually before you step in to manage
the problem or make ajudgement.
"erhaps the merican poet (obert :rost understood that the top of
the pyramid is only a
single point when he said, +being the boss anywhere is lonely.+
ut with a little effort youcan make this climb easier, mentor new
leaders on your way and yield better results along
with your team.
