8 Things Great Bosses Demand from Employees

Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Geoffrey James and featured online by Inc. magazine. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain subscription information, please click here.

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When your team asks you want you want, here’s what you tell them.

My recent column, 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses, drew a flood of responses. But there’s one thing I didn’t mention: An extraordinary boss communicates his expectations clearly to his team. That way, everyone understands what it will take to make your company succeed.

With that in mind: If you are the boss, you’ll want to share this column with your team, because it will make your job a heck of a lot easier. And if by chance you’re not the boss, memorize this column–because it contains the key to long-term success.

Here are [three of] the rules for keeping your boss happy:

1. Be true to your word. Your boss wants to trust you. Really.  Therefore, whenever you accept an assignment, follow through religiously, even fanatically. Do what you say you’re going to do. Never overcommit, and avoid hedging your bets with vague statements like “I’ll try” and “maybe.” Instead, make your word carry real weight.

2. No surprises, ever. The secret fear of every boss is that employees are screwing up but are not saying anything about it.  So even if you’re afraid some bad news might upset your boss, make sure he’s informed. Note: If your boss consistently “shoots the messenger,” you can ignore this rule–because his behavior shows he doesn’t really want to be in the know.

3. Be prepared on the details. Your boss wants to believe you’re competent and on top of things.  That’s why she sometimes picks an aspect of your job and begins randomly asking penetrating questions. Therefore, whenever you’re meeting with the boss, have the details ready so you can answer these queries with grace and aplomb.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Geoffrey James’ “Sales Source” (formerly “Sales Machine” on CBS) is the world’s most-visited sales-oriented blog and has won awards from both the Society of American Business Editors & Writers and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Sales Source is entirely independent and features the very best ideas from dozens of top sales experts and executives. To get column updates, sign up for his weekly “insider” newsletter or his@Sales_Source Twitter feed. His best posts, with many extras, are in his new book, How to Say It: Business to Business Selling.

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

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Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Geoffrey James and featured online by Inc. magazine. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain subscription information, please click here.

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The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. See what they get right.

A few years back, I interviewed some of the most successful CEOs in the world in order to discover their management secrets. I learned that the “best of the best” tend to share the following eight core beliefs.
 
1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of “troops” to order about, demonize competitors as “enemies,” and treat customers as “territory” to be conquered.

Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers … and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by “pulling levers” and “steering the ship.”

Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they’re told. They’re hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the “wait and see what the boss says” mentality.

Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.
 
4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can’t be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

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Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Geoffrey James‘ “Sales Source” (formerly “Sales Machine” on CBS) is the world’s most-visited sales-oriented blog and has won awards from both the Society of American Business Editors & Writers and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Sales Source is entirely independent and features the very best ideas from dozens of top sales experts and executives. To get column updates, sign up for his weekly “insider” newsletter or his @Sales_Source Twitter feed. His best posts, with many extras, are in his new book, How to Say It: Business to Business Selling.