Ten Ways to Be a Better Boss

I have had more than two decades experience in management. I have personally learned a lot of valuable lessons on leadership, many of them the hard way. I also have had many bosses. Due to the weirdness of corporate banking, I once had 8 bosses in a 12 month period. I have had excellent bosses who engendered loyalty in their people, and I have had horrible bosses who drain the very life out of people. Good leadership can free employees to do amazing things. Poor management can only get the bare minimum out of people, if that.

Today’s challenge to you, the reader, is to comment with a story about the worst boss you’ve ever had. We’ll see who has the worst.

1. Treat Your People Like They are People – This is imperative. Employees are not “cogs in the machine,” they are real people with real dreams, ideas, and frustrations. Be friendly with them, but not overly so. Let them know you value their input.
2. Surprise Them with a Break – I once had a boss who came in one Thursday and told us to dress casual for the next day with clothes that would be comfortable outside. The next day, he shut down the department for an “offsite meeting” at noon and took us all across the street to Tempe Diablo Stadium where we enjoyed an afternoon of spring training baseball. What fun. He built loyalty that day and next time he needed us to work late for a deadline, we were all onboard. As a manager, I used to periodically bring pizza in to the department, just as a thank you for their work. I also awarded employees who performed well with time off, maybe an afternoon, or sometimes a whole day.
3. Public Praise, Private Punishment – If an employee has done well, trumpet it in front of other employees and even customers. If they do poorly, deal with this in private. The quickest way to kill morale is to switch these around. Of course, there is nothing like a good public caning once in awhile.
4. Give Them Family Time – When I have an employee with a child or spouse in the hospital, I don’t blink, I tell them to go be with them. I tell them. As long as this isn’t abused, it makes a big difference. If they are trying to work while worried about their family. In most cases, a good employee will go take care of their family and come back and redouble their work effort. Don’t make the corporate-America mistake of thinking the company is family. A good reading of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” might help. You don’t want to be responsible for Tiny Tim’s death now, do you?
5. Pick Their Priorities – It is not the employee’s responsibility to decide what their priorities are. This is the single most common mistake made by managers. They will assign two or three things that must be done at once, but only give time to get one of them done. The employee is left to figure out how to make it happen and absorb any negative reaction if they choose wrong. The manager should be the one to say, this is the first priority and must be done by this time, this is the second priority and must be done by such and such a time, and so on. As an employee, I always push this back to my boss.
6. Lead by Example – If you expect your employees to put in extra hours, then so should you. If you expect them to take a pay cut, then so should you. A leader should lead from the front. Unless of course you are a politician.
7. Know Your Employees – Do you know the names of all of your employees, even the least of them? Do you know the names of their kids? Do you know what the employee does for fun in their free time? How is their marriage doing? What are their career goals? What do they value? Do they wear kilts in their off-times? If you can’t answer these questions, then you won’t be able to properly motivate them.
8. Let Them Learn – The first thing cut in most budgets is training. Many new employees get thrown into the business with little or no preparation. What a terrible mistake. Well trained employees are more effective employees. This goes for outside training. I strongly advise sending your better employees to seminars and training sessions to get better and better. Weaker employees can be given additional training too. Tuition Reimbursement is an excellent way to improve your people. An even better form of training is mentoring. If you have an exceptional employee that is a prospective for promotion, have him or her sit alongside someone who is doing the new job well. Let them learn by following in the footsteps of someone older and more experienced.
9. Don’t Chase Management Trends – Working in corporate banking, I saw trends come and go. I was given the gift of the goose, empowered, TQM’ed, SalesTech’ed, 3 R’ed, 5 P’ed, had my cheese moved, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitem. We were reorganized again and again. Consultants came and went and then more came in, each with a sharp suit, a new idea, and a fake smile. We did teambuilding events, and dissection debriefs, and seminar after seminar. What we never seemed to get done was any real work. Pick a business plan and go with it. Give it time to work. Build your people up and give them the training and tools to get the job done. Reward them well when they do well. Then get out of the way and quit bothering them with Dilbert-style goofiness.
10. Fear and Shame are Short Term Tools – There is an old adage, “You’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” I’m not sure why you need to catch flies, but let’s apply the lesson here. A leader will encourage his people, building them up, having faith in them. A poor manager (dictator) abuses his employees. I once worked for a man who would hold ‘come-to-Jesus meetings’ to deal with problems. Here’s an example: A customer called in angry that he didn’t get the correct items in a timely manner. Bossman calls the sales person into his office and demands an instant explanation (without giving the person time to get answers). Sales person, in the process of hemming and hawing through his excuse mentions that production had told him the parts would be ready. Bossman instantly interrupts by picking up his phone and calling the Production Manager. Production Manager and Salesperson are now in his office. Production manager tries to explain about an engineering problem and Bossman promptly interrupts again, calling the Engineer in. The engineer then tries to explain and mentions the Customer Service Manager in who then mentions Project Management and so on and so on. Soon, a third of the company is in there sweating as they are yelled at and denigrated by the Bossman. Bossman would then mention all the errors and assign blame in front of everyone at the next company meeting. Not only was this ineffective at solving the customer’s problem, but it tore down the morale every time. Fear and Shame can be effective tools if you must rush to get a single job done and will never see the employees again. In all other instances, please don’t consider them to be useful leadership tools.

I once calculated that it cost our company more than twenty thousand dollars to train a new technician. I then showed this number and how I calculated it to the owner of the company (one of the worst bosses I’ve ever had). I tried to demonstrate how much better it was to treat people well and keep them versus treating them as disposable and losing them to other companies. He saw the numbers and agreed with them, even suggesting that they were much higher when you considered loaded costs. Yet, ultimately, he never changed and continually chased off some of the best people we ever had.

A good leader who treats his people well is an incredible boon to a company. A bad boss makes everyone’s life worse and will ultimately be a drain on company resources.

Feel free to send an anonymous copy of this blog to your boss.

My Bad Boss Story (not naming any names)

I had a boss who was extremely paranoid about his employees wasting time by checking personal email or surfing the internet, because this cost the company money. So, he had software loaded on every computer that allowed him to look at anyone’s computer screen at any time from his desktop computer. He then spent large amounts of every day watching his employees computer screens. It never occurred to him that, at the highest salary in the company, he was costing the company much more money by wasting hours watching employee computers than he ever saved from keeping them from spending a few minutes checking personal email. His paranoia extended to perceived loyalty. He also paid for accounts on several employment search websites like Monster.com so he could search for resumes posted by his employees. If he found your resume out there, he got rid of you. He was soooooo paranoid and angry, that there was a palpable tension in the office when he was there and an almost visible sigh of relief when he was not. It was demoralizing to work anywhere near him.

This post is Number 6 in a series of Ten Top Ten Lists on improving yourself. This series will be posted daily.

Tomorrow: Ten Ways to Be a Better Interviewee

Ten Ways to Be A Better Employee

You might not think that this goes in the category with the other relationships mentioned in the past few days in this blog, but it does. The boss/employee relationship is subject to issues just like any other.

I have worked in management most of my adult life, in a variety of situations: 5 years in restaurant management, 7 years in management in banks, 7 years management in the electronics industry, and a few years now managing volunteers and interns in the church. I cannot remember how many employees I have worked with, but I do remember some of the best and some of the worst.

Here are some of the best:

1. Know Your Boss – This should go without saying, but it is amazing how oblivious most people are to the other people around them. They are so caught up in their own self-centered world that they miss important cues in relationships. Your boss is a human being. Yes, I’m sure you could share stories about your boss that proves he is a minion of the underworld, but the reality is, he/or she is a human, driven by human desires, fears, and dreams. Take the time to watch what your boss likes, what motivates them, what sets them off, what they value. Then, use that knowledge in your relationship. Also, always be friendly and personable with your bosses, even when they aren’t. Don’t fawn over them, but don’t be cold either. If you remember they are human, you might realize that the reason they snapped at you this morning was because of a fight with their spouse last night that has nothing to do with you.
2. Keep Your Personal Life, Personal – I once had an employee who was the biggest drama queen in the world. She would hold long and loud phone conversations with her husband talking about all their problems and then, when she hung up, she would share with others around her. She got her work done, mostly, but whenever I came by, she had to tell me her latest sob story. Her dog died. Her cat died, her parrot died. Her kid was sick. Her kid had a broken leg. Her kid had chicken pox. Her husband got laid off. Her husband found a new job and got fired. Her husband had a rectal exam. Her sister went through a messy divorce, that we all heard every detail of. Her life was like a soap opera sung to country music. How draining. If you need a counselor, see a counselor. Your boss and co-workers are not counselors. Work is not the place for this. You can share a little, especially the positive stuff, but even then, keep it brief and don’t give us the gory details. A final note on this one, this also applies to office romances. Keep the icky stuff outside of business hours.
3. Put in A Little Bit Extra at No Cost – Get to work early and stay a little late. Don’t take this to mean working hours late every night, but it can be an amazing thing for your boss to come in and see you working when he/she gets there. Even if all you are doing is deleting an email from your co-worker telling you about her dead parrot, it still gets you a little ahead. Keep balance in your personal life, but put in a little extra. It also adds the appearance that you get more done in eight hours than others do. Even fifteen minutes to half an hour on each end of the day can make a big difference. Don’t trumpet it, just quietly put in a little extra. A bonus here is that you beat the worst of the rush hour traffic, you get the freshest coffee, and you can get a lot more done when you are there alone and you don’t have that co-worker telling you about her dead parrot.
4. Don’t Gossip – “Did you hear about Jane in accounting? I’m not saying anything about what she’s done, but I hear she’s keeping it.” Don’t be that guy. Please. Just as you need to keep your own life personal, let other people keep their lives personal. If someone comes to share with you, politely say, “I’m sure she has enough to worry about without having people talk behind her back.” That’ll take the wind out of the gossiper’s sails. The problem with gossip is that it always puts the spotlight on other people’s mistakes while pretending that your s*** doesn’t stink. This also goes for spreading rumors about work. “I hear our whole division is being closed.” “I hear our boss is really an evil alien bent on world domination.” These things may be true, but you won’t gain anything by worrying about them or worrying others about them.
5. Build Up Others – When you lead a team that makes the big sale and your boss gives you adulations, be sure to point out how important the work was done by others. Name them and thank them. If you get a huge project done and you were helped by Jane in accounting, be sure to go to her boss and explain how well she did. Don’t try to steal all the glory. Don’t be falsely humble, just give credit where it is due.
6. Take Responsibility – Don’t blame everyone else for your failure. Step up to the plate*. Take responsibility for mistakes you have made. Go tell your boss before she hears it from someone else. Apologize and be ready with ideas on how you can prevent it from occurring again. Show what you have learned. Even if it is a doozy and you lose your job, you have still demonstrated character to those around you.
7. Don ‘t Overpromise – Of course I can type those three hundred documents up by tomorrow morning. The product is shipping as we speak. We can close that loan before the end of the month. If you can’t really do it, don’t promise that you can. Manage expectations. If each document takes twenty minutes to type, give a realistic total to your boss and then let him know that you will work hard to make it faster. If the product is still in production and probably won’t ship till tomorrow or the next day, let them know that it is going to ship within forty-eight hours and then work to get it out sooner. If the loan is non-conforming with three large boxes of complicated corporate taxes for analysis, a business appraisal, and problems with the title; inform your manager of what it is really going to take to close the loan and then get to work. It’s always better to surprise them by being done earlier than to disappoint them by not meeting unrealistic goals.
8. Wipe Off Your Nose – I had an employee back at the bank who was always giving me false compliments. “That’s a nice suit you’re wearing today.” “Are you losing weight?” “You really did well in that meeting.” “You’re the best boss I’ve ever had.” Nice compliments, but she was always trying to wheedle something out of me. It was fake, beyond belief. Repeat after me: “Don’t be a brown-noser.” Be real. Compliments are fine, if they aren’t being used to manipulate.
9. Play Well With Others – Whether it is a fellow co-worker, your boss’ boss, the janitor, a secretary, or delivery people, treat everyone with equal respect and get to know what you can about them. Not only is this just good human decency, but when the chips are down and you need help with a project, they are more likely to be there for you. Plus, if you treat the supply person well, you’ll get the best pens.
10. Know When to Go – This is probably the best advice of all. This isn't about when to go to the bathroom, but when to leave the job. If you don’t fit, if the job is too much for you, if your boss is unbearable, if the company is doing unethical or illegal activities, if you just aren’t growing there, if it takes too much of your family life… Don’t be afraid to move on. Now, be wise about this, don’t jump ship if you don’t have another job waiting, but don’t be afraid to go when it is time.

Again, I invite you to share your input. What makes a good employee in your eyes? Share a story of a great fellow employee or perhaps a weird one. Just don’t tell me about your dead parrot.

* There Kurt, I actually used a positive baseball reference for once. Are you happy now? Perhaps you should pay attention to this so you can be a better employee for Dr. Moore.

This post is Number 5 in a series of Ten Top Ten Lists on improving yourself. This series will be posted daily.

Tomorrow: Ten Ways to Be a Better Boss

Bonus: 10 actual employee stories:

1. I had an employee who was from India. He was the only person from India in that department. My boss came to me and said that there were a dozen very expensive long distance calls made to India from a phone at an empty desk next to his. He denied that he made them. They were to his home town...

2. Same employee. A very talented slacker. He build himself a nap spot in the supply room by moving boxes around to create a hidden area.

3. Same employee. Wednesday morning. He asks for permission to be gone that Friday and following Monday so he can go to New York with some friends. I told him, No. We had two other people on vacation that Friday who had asked way in advance and I needed him. Friday morning, I come in to find a voicemail message waiting for me, "cough, cough, cough - I can't come in today because I'm sick. I probably won't be in Monday either. cough, cough, cough." I then begin my morning task, timesheets for payroll. Wait a minute. There is his timesheet signed and turned in on Thursday. Friday is marked as a sick day. Hmmmmmm.

4. One of my employees at the Tech Support company I worked for. On the phone with customer, "Are you too stupid to look at your monitor? Just sit back and don't touch anything until I tell you to." We lost a half-million dollar contract based on that one.

5. I was tranferred to a different restaurant and given a management position that one of their employees had applied for and hoped to get. Instant resentment. I told him to do something and he turned his back and walked away from me. I reached up and grabbed his arm and he turned around and took a swing at me. I punched him back and it went from there, until some other employees pulled us apart.

6. Had an employee showing everyone a picture of her husband, because she said he was so handsome. She even showed me. The picture was south of his belly button and north of his knees. I didn't find him to be nearly as handsome as she did. Ewwwww.

7. Same employee. I saw her place an order and then take the ticket away where she promptly voided it. She then reached in the cash drawer and slipped the money in her pocket. Hmmmmm. When confronted, she had the voided slip and the exact amount of money in her apron pocket. Her excuse, "I made a mistake on the order and was going to bring it to you to find out what to do with the money."

8. Had an african american employee go through the interview process wearing a suit and tie, combed hair, neat appearance. Excellent interview skills, very impressive. He showed up on the first day of work, however, wearing a red slicker jogging suit with a full afro with a black power pick sticking out and a huge attitude. Not sure what happened in between.

9. Not my employee, but one at a customer's business whom we were providing Tech Support to. He called to say that his computer just went black. After some time supporting him, we come to find out he was downloading pornographic movies onto his work computer. In the process, he downloaded a virus that wiped the computer memory. Did I mention that he hadn't been doing the regular backups he was supposed to be doing and they lost months worth of financial information. Whoops.

10. A certain blogger who shall remain nameless and two fellow employees got into a late night ketchup and mustard fight in the restaurant. Dozens of bottles of ketchup and mustard squirted at each other as well as everything else in sight. That was fun. Now, a long night of cleanup. We cleaned the walls, ceilings, furniture, and everything else. We left the building about fifteen minutes before the morning crew was there to open. Whewww. We got away with it............ Except for the jacket left behind the office door covered with ketchup and mustard. Awww Crap. We were in a lot of trouble for that one.