Great leaders ask themselves daily, am I a good boss?  But, what makes a good boss?  Is it being a good listener?  Is it being a great motivator to your employees?  Being a good boss or leader is not easy, but comes with many rewards.

Every leader knows that being the boss can be challenging.  You must constantly deal with your team’s performance and conflicts, while continuing full steam ahead to accomplish the end goal.  Some of the best leaders will tell you to take the time to evaluate if you are a good boss.  This will help you have a clear idea of what is important and how to achieve it.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do you listen more than you talk?
  • What is most important, supporting your team or getting the work done?
  • Is management the responsibility for your team’s performance, or being in charge?
  • Do you ask feedback from your team often? And, if you do, what do you do with that information?
  • Do you take regular self-assessments?
  • Do you think you need to continue working on your leadership skills? And, if so, what do you do to work on them?
  • Do you recognize others at least once a week?
  • Do you work on ensuring your team trusts you?
  • Do you delegate often?

Every boss – every leader is human and will make mistakes.  The key is learning from those mistakes and improving.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind in helping you build your leadership skills and become a good boss:

  • Make sure that you understand the end result you are trying to accomplish. Make sure that it is clear and that you can share this with your team regularly.  This will help everyone achieve success.
  • Communication skills are critical in being a good boss. Make sure that you constantly get feedback from your team on your communication skills and work on improving them based on that feedback.
  • Your actions will speak a thousand words. Make sure that your actions match what you communicate to your team.  Do not say one thing and do another!
  • Delegate often. Give them the knowledge and the tools to complete the task and then get out of their way.  Hoovering and micromanaging is counterproductive and will cause you to lose good employees.
  • Make sure that you recognize all success, no matter how big or small. Team recognition, as well as individual recognition must be done frequently.  This will keep your team excited and engaged.

Being a good boss takes work, and you never stop learning how to become a good boss.  Challenge yourself and strive to be the best leader and boss you can be!

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