“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” (John C. Maxwell)We all have a boss. Even the President of the U.S. has “We The People” that he has to answer to. Many of us complain about our boss. Unfortunately, not all bosses are top-shelf. If you happen to be a boss, you also might want to read this so that you can stop doing some of this stuff if you are guilty of it.
(1) The boss says “do what I say not as I do”. Leaders must lead by example. They need to model what they are selling. This kind of a statement is from a positional or authoritarian leader. You still need to follow your boss’ directives, but it is hard to respect this individual.
(2) They always say “I”, “me”, “my”, and “mine” instead of “we”, “us” and “ours”. This kind of boss is selfish and is looking out for their own interests even though a team needs all members playing their ole effectively in order to experience success.
(3) They micromanage all of their employees. If a boss is doing everyone else’s job then who is doing the boss’ job? We are not talking about giving feedback or advice but constantly breathing down the neck of employees and stressing them out. This is not good for morale. It also doesn’t elicit confidence among the employees as they are constantly made to feel inferior. Plus, it I down right annoying.
(4) They hired you!!! Seriously. If you think your boss is an idiot, what does that say about you? Your negatives thoughts probably aren’t helping the situation. Your boss might not be perfect but I bet you aren’t, either. Have you ever thought about encouraging your boss? Gandhi said to be the change that you want to see in the world. What are you doing to make things better? If you talk about your boss to co-workers then you are not being a good teammate. You are like the cancerous teammate in the lockerroom. You need to do your job to the best of your ability. Control what you can control. A successful team is made up of the right people. If you are a complainer or don’t encourage those around you, including your boss then you may not be the right person for the team. If you can’t do this or if things don’t change with your boss, then it may be time to look for a different job.