{"id":1604,"date":"2011-08-12T10:44:57","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T14:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/?p=1604"},"modified":"2011-08-12T10:44:57","modified_gmt":"2011-08-12T14:44:57","slug":"is-this-your-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/2011\/08\/is-this-your-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"Is this your Boss?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What you\u00a0don\u2019t <\/em>do can make as much or sometimes more impact than what you actually do \u2014 and can also\u00a0<\/a>say a lot about your leadership style and abilities as a manager.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here a list of 5 “Do Not Do’s”….Is this your Boss?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Deliver annual performance reviews.<\/strong>Annual or semi-annual appraisals waste everyone\u2019s time. Years ago my review was late, so I mentioned it to my boss. He said, \u201cI\u2019ll get to it\u2026 but you realize you won\u2019t learn a thing. You\u2019ve already heard everything I will say, good or bad. If anything on your review comes as a surprise to you I haven\u2019t done my job.\u201d He was right. The best feedback isn\u2019t scheduled; the best feedback happens on the spot when it makes the most impact, either as praise and encouragement or as training and suggestions for improvement. Waiting for a scheduled review is the lazy way out. Your job is to coach and mentor and develop \u2014\u00a0every day<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  2. Say, \u201cLook\u2026 I\u2019ve been meaning to apologize\u2026\u201d<\/strong> Apologies should be made on the spot, every time. You should never need to apologize for not having apologized sooner. When you mess up, \u2018fess up.\u00a0 Right away. Don\u2019t you want employees to immediately tell you when they make a mistake? Model the same behavior.<\/li>\n
  3. Hold meetings to solicit ideas.<\/strong> Many companies hold brainstorming sessions to solicit ideas for improvement, especially when times get tough. Sounds great \u2014 after all, you\u2019re \u201cengaging employees\u201d and \u201cvaluing their contributions,\u201d right? But you don\u2019t need a meeting to get input. When employees know you listen they often bring ideas to you. Plus, the better way to ask for ideas is to talk to people individually and to be more specific. Say, \u201cI wish we could find a way to get orders through our system faster. What would you change if you were me?\u201d Trust me: Employees picture themselves doing your job \u2014 and doing your job\u00a0better<\/em> \u2014 all the time. They have ideas. Be open, act on good ideas, explain why less than good ideas aren\u2019t feasible\u2026 and you\u2019ll get all the input you can handle.<\/li>\n
  4. Create development plans.<\/strong> Development plans are, like annual performance reviews, largely a corporate construct. (HR staffers love to monitor compliance and alert managers when supervisors are late turning in their employees\u2019 development plans. Or maybe that\u2019s just my experience.) You should know what each of your employees hopes to achieve: Skills and experience they want to gain, career paths they hope to take, etc. So talk about it \u2014 informally. Assign projects that fit. Provide training that fits. Create opportunities that fit. Then give feedback on the spot. \u201cDevelop\u201d is a verb that requires action; \u201cdevelopment\u201d is a noun that sits in a file cabinet.<\/li>\n
  5. Call in favors.<\/strong> I know lots of bosses who play the guilt game, like saying, \u201cJohn, I\u2019ve been very flexible with your schedule the last few months while your wife was sick\u2026 now I really need you to come through for me and work this weekend\u2026\u201d Generosity should always be a one-way street. Be flexible when it\u2019s the right thing to do. Be accommodating when it\u2019s the right thing to do. Never lend money to friends unless you don\u2019t care if you are repaid, and never do \u201cfavors\u201d for employees in anticipation of return. As a leader, only give \u2014 never take.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What you\u00a0don\u2019t do can make as much or sometimes more impact than what you actually do \u2014 and can also\u00a0say a lot about your leadership style and abilities as a manager. Here a list of 5 “Do Not Do’s”….Is this your Boss? Deliver annual performance reviews.Annual or semi-annual appraisals waste everyone\u2019s time. Years ago my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-management-101","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1604"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1609,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions\/1609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archimediastudios.com\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}