Photo by Kelly on Flickr
Boss’s Day 2018 – by Arnie Wohlgemut
One of the least known national commemorative days is, “Boss’s Day”. We all may know about Administrative Professional’s Day, National Donut Day and possibly many more, but not “Boss’s Day”
Every boss has some basic responsibilities that will propel their team or organization towards success. Many studies have shown that the person we call “the boss” is often the reason why people leave their jobs.
Here are my top 5 roles of a supervisor, manager or ‘boss’:
1. Removing barriers: when you do this, the team can deliver the product or service and have success. This is always my number one task and recommendation. Juliet Funt the CEO of Whitespace at Work puts it this way: “decrapify your workflow”. I agree. There is nothing more important than removing the red tape and barriers in the workflow. The key? Simple Procedures!
2. Independence: the liberty to do the job or assignment in their own way. After all, we really don’t want clones. Give your people more independence than you’re comfortable with. If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not giving them enough freedom says former Google Executive Laszio Bock. If you can’t give your employees the freedom to do what you’ve hired them for, what message are you sending to them.
3. Be a strong mentor. Why mentoring? Because it requires you to participate in the success of others. The main reason people quit their jobs is because they don’t feel they have support and guidance from their direct manager, but training supervisors and managers from the start to be strong mentors can reduce attrition, says Sandy Kochhar, Vice President of People at Ripple.
4. Be a contributor in the success of each and every one on your team. Employees who think of their supervisors as partners report significantly higher levels of happiness than those who think of their managers as bosses, according to a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“Ask your team daily: How can I help?” Marcus Buckingham
5. Be decisive. A “boss” who can’t make a decision severely cripples an organization. Being decisive also builds confidence. Not knowing what to do next is the largest single de-motivator in organizations today!!
Happy Boss’s Day to all of you amazing mentors out there!
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