Being a boss isn’t just about knowing that the buck stops with you and it’s your responsibility to make decisions. It’s also about being a leader and inspiring your employees to work well and be a good team. If you can put a strong focus on leading, your team will be far more likely to be loyal and work harder.
1. Focus On Communication
Leading a team is all about communication. You need to be able to tell people what their objectives are, what you want out of them, and what they are doing right or wrong. You also need to be able to listen to what they are saying and take their thoughts, feelings and feedback on board.
If you don’t feel confident about speaking in front of people or are worried about setting the right tone in an email, consider taking a course on communication. This will take your leadership skills to the next level.
2. Think Of Your Employees As Colleagues
While it is important to have a degree of separation between yourself and your employees – there must be some respect and responsibility – it’s also important to not set yourself as above or better than them. Remember, if you have the right employees for the job, your role as manager or boss is more about supporting and nurturing than telling them what to do.
3. Don’t Be Afraid To Get Your Hands Dirty
This again comes down to the idea of separation between management and regular employees. If you set yourself apart from them and are not willing to muck in and do some hard work alongside them, it’ll be very hard to inspire loyalty and respect in them.
Think about how frustrating it can be for an employee to see the boss go home at 5pm when they’re stuck stressing about finishing something for the next few hours. Instead, when there’s a deadline to meet, show everyone that you are willing to put in the same hours on the project as you expect them to be.
4. Set Objectives That Inspire And Motivate
It’s important as a boss that you know the capabilities and experience levels of each employee, and how that translates into reasonable objectives for work. If you just heap on a never-ending onslaught of jobs or work that needs to be done continuously, your employees will find it hard to stay motivated or find the inspiration to go above and beyond.
It’s also good to have achievable objectives within a project or regular workload. When you hit those goals, it’s important to acknowledge them so that your employees know that you see them and the work they’re doing.
5. Have A Life Outside Of Work
All work and no play can make anyone a dull boss, so you should read more to have some fun. It’s also hard to deal with the stress of being the boss, the decision-maker, if you aren’t having fun or letting off steam outside of work. The same goes for your employees – they need to be able to have a life and be allowed to have fun at work too. Make sure you give everyone room for a healthy social life within the company and without.