Many books and articles have been written describing the good boss. The description varies somewhat with the views of the writer, but some traits and characteristics are common to many. David Sirota, director of Sirota Survey Company, has surveyed millions of employees from Fortune 500 companies. He says, “A large part of what a good boss does is to expedite things for employees, helping them to get their jobs done by removing obstacles. This is not the same as ‘making sure’ they get their jobs done by raising their anxiety level.” Sirota, author of “The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by giving Workers What They Want," views the good boss through the eyes of employees. He says that his research consistently indicates that people have three goals at work. First is fairness in being rewarded and recognized for their work; achievement, being proud of the organization and their place in it; and camaraderie, good working relationships and a sense of being part of a team. The good boss makes it possible for employees to achieve these goals.  

Lisa Whaley, Memorial Hospital Vice President for Human Resources says that their Service Excellence program starts with their managers, so  they send them off site quarterly to Leadership Development Institutes. "We tailor our content based on Harvard's Value Change model which says ‘strong leaders make satisfied employees, satisfied employees make satisfied customers,' which ties into our mission, values and strategic plan," she says."We recognize leaders who develop core leadership values consistent with our long term strategies. Good leaders consistently produce strong patient and employee satisfaction. They deal with low performers, re-recruit high performers and award recognition for communication skills. Often leaders are the least recognized for their contributions,” she notes. "Talking with employees is key. Leaders routinely ask staff members how things are going, what they need and what the manager can do to make them more successful," says Whaley. Memorial’s CEO, Ruth Brinkley was recently recognized as manager of the year by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

Amy Joyce, writer for the Washington Post, lists honesty, consultation and a view of workers as individuals at the top of traits desired in a good boss. She says that companies showing higher returns to shareholders are those where leaders spend time with their workers, manage and lead workers as individuals, not as groups. The ability to create and maintain effective channels for giving and receiving information to peers, subordinates and superiors was perceived as very important. Communication skills, consistency and respect for employees were high on her list. 

            Kary Klein, President and CEO of SmartHire HR looks for managers who operate from their own initiative, are looking for a challenge and can profit from constructive criticism. "I look for people who believe not only in themselves, but in people in general," she explains. "I have never seen a leader who is not a people person. Good leaders allow people to make mistakes and learn from them. They are articulate and focused. They can explain exactly what they want their people to do, give them the tools to do the job and allow them to do it," says Klein. "I believe that leaders are taught, not born. There are tons of management development programs. I see lots of personality analysis tools with programs like DISC that determine management style and teach managers how to interact with those who operate from different ones."

ESI International, world leader in project management training, has studied traits with some of the most talented project leaders in the world for more than 20 years. Timothy Barry, company trainer and consultant says that they keep a running tally, ranking traits according to frequency listed and. reports these top 10 qualities for leaders:

 

?     Inspires Vision – has a vision of where to go and articulates that with others so that they experience the vision as their own.

 

?     Good communicator – the ability to communicate with others at any level, includes clear communication of goals, responsibility, performance expectations and feedback.

 

?     Integrity – knows that action, not words set the tone, demands commitment and ethical practices which earn trust.

 

?     Enthusiasm – demonstrates a positive attitude and ability to engage others in following him on an invigorating journey.

 

?     Empathy – presumes the worker to be an individual separate from the work environment who is entitled to his own ideas, outside experience and special interests.

?     Competence – has both job expertise and ability to lead others. Able to model, challenge and inspire others.

 

?     Ability to delegate – demonstrates trust in workers by delegating, allowing workers to do assigned tasks without checking and controlling their work.

 

?     Cool under pressure – takes problems and obstacles in stride, considers problems as opportunities and uses them to galvanize the team into action that pulls them together.

 

?     Team-building skills – strong, able to bring and hold the team together, learns each team member’s style and capitalizes on it.

 

?     Problem-solving skills – uses problem-solving skills of the team, but also uses a fresh, creative perspective without unnecessary worry about the past.

 

            W. Keith Sanford, Executive Vice President, First Tennessee Bank says that good bosses should be approachable, supportive to employees, give good feedback and be honest with feedback. "They should be open minded and give praise when it is due," he says. 

"We have leadership classes for our managers that include subjects such as coaching, interviewing and problem resolution. When classes are completed, the employee receives a leadership certificate. We have a web site called 'leader link' where managers can ask questions, read articles and find out what other leaders might do with a similar situation. Our employee services people are always available to help managers to resolve issues or link them up with people who may have dealt with the problem before. We have annual classes in areas such as inclusion training so that we have internal filters and ensure that we give everyone an opportunity to succeed in our company," Helping employees to succeed by giving them the tools they need and encouraging them to do and be their best seems to be a common thread in beliefs about what makes the good boss.

 

       1.    Choose a field thoughtfully. Make it one you enjoy. It is hard to be productive without   

      genuine enthusiasm whether you are manager or employee.

 

2.   Hire carefully and be willing to fire.You need a strong team. A mediocre team gives                                             

mediocre results. A good manager will replace a person who does not measure up or move him to a set of responsibilities where he can succeed unambiguously.

 

3.   Create a productive environment. This is a challenge because it requires different  

approaches depending on the context. Sometimes you maximize productivity by giving everybody his or her own offices. Sometimes you achieve it by moving everybody into open space. Sometimes you use financial incentives to stimulate productivity. A combination is usually required. One element that almost always increases productivity is providing an information system that empowers employees. 

 

4.   Define success. Make it clear to your employees what constitutes success and how they should measure their achievements. Goals must be realistic. Project schedules, for example, must be set by the people who do the work. People will accept a ``bottom-up'' deadline they helped set but they'll be cynical about a schedule imposed from the top that doesn't map to reality. Unachievable goals weaken an organization.

 

5.   You have to like people and be good at communicating. This is hard to fake. If you don't

genuinely enjoy interacting with people, it'll be hard to manage them well. You must    encourage people to tell you what's going on (good or bad) and give you feedback about what people are thinking about the company and your role in it.

 

6.   Develop your people to do their jobs better than you can. Transfer your skills to them. This is an exciting goal but it can be threatening to a manager who worries that he's training his replacement. There's no shortage of jobs for good managers. The world has an infinite amount of work to be done.

 

7.   Build morale. Make it clear there's plenty of good will to go around and that it's not just you who's going to impress others if things go well. When you achieve great results, everybody involved should share in the credit and feel good about it.

 

8.   Take on projects yourself. The last thing people want is a boss who just doles out stuff. From time to time prove you can be hands-on by taking on one of the less attractive tasks and using it as an example of how your employees should meet challenges.

 

9.   Don't make the same decision twice. Spend the time and thought to make a solid decision the first time so that you don't revisit the issue unnecessarily. People hate indecisive leadership so you have to make choices. However that doesn't mean you have to decide everything the moment it comes to your attention. Nor that you can't ever reconsider a decision.

 

10.Let people know whom to please. Maybe it's you, maybe it's your boss and maybe it's somebody who works for you. You're in trouble--and risking--paralysis in your organization, when employees start saying to themselves: ``Am I supposed to be making this person happy or this other person happy? They seem to have different priorities.''

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