Good Qualities of Remarkable Boss !

Remarkable bosses aren’t great on paper. Great bosses are remarkable based on their actions.

Results are everything—but not the results you might think.

Consistently do these five things and everything else follows. You and your business benefit greatly.

More importantly, so do your employees.

1. Develop every employee. Sure, you can put your primary focus on reaching targets, achieving results, and accomplishing concrete goals—but do that and you put your leadership cart before your achievement horse.

Without great employees, no amount of focus on goals and targets will ever pay off. Employees can only achieve what they are capable of achieving, so it’s your job to help all your employees be more capable so they—and your business—can achieve more.

It's your job to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities your employees need and deserve. When you do, you transform the relatively boring process of reviewing results and tracking performance into something a lot more meaningful for your employees: Progress, improvement, and personal achievement.

So don’t worry about reaching performance goals. Spend the bulk of your time developing the skills of your employees and achieving goals will be a natural outcome.

Plus it’s a lot more fun.

2. Deal with problems immediately. Nothing kills team morale more quickly than problems that don't get addressed. Interpersonal squabbles, performance issues, feuds between departments... all negatively impact employee motivation and enthusiasm.

And they're distracting, because small problems never go away. Small problems always fester and grow into bigger problems. Plus, when you ignore a problem your employees immediately lose respect for you, and without respect, you can't lead.

Never hope a problem will magically go away, or that someone else will deal with it. Deal with every issue head-on, no matter how small.

3. Rescue your worst employee. Almost every business has at least one employee who has fallen out of grace: Publicly failed to complete a task, lost his cool in a meeting, or just can’t seem to keep up. Over time that employee comes to be seen by his peers—and by you—as a weak link.

While that employee may desperately want to “rehabilitate” himself, it's almost impossible. The weight of team disapproval is too heavy for one person to move.

But it’s not too heavy for you.

Before you remove your weak link from the chain, put your full effort into trying to rescue that person instead. Say, "John, I know you've been struggling but I also know you're trying. Let's find ways together that can get you where you need to be." Express confidence. Be reassuring. Most of all, tell him you'll be there every step of the way.

Don't relax your standards. Just step up the mentoring and coaching you provide.

If that seems like too much work for too little potential outcome, think of it this way. Your remarkable employees don’t need a lot of your time; they’re remarkable because they already have these qualities. If you’re lucky, you can get a few percentage points of extra performance from them. But a struggling employee has tons of upside; rescue him and you make a tremendous difference.

Granted, sometimes it won't work out. When it doesn't, don't worry about it. The effort is its own reward.

And occasionally an employee will succeed—and you will have made a tremendous difference in a person's professional and personal life.

Can’t beat that.

4. Serve others, not yourself. You can get away with being selfish or self-serving once or twice... but that's it.

Never say or do anything that in any way puts you in the spotlight, however briefly. Never congratulate employees and digress for a few moments to discuss what you did.

If it should go without saying, don't say it. Your glory should always be reflected, never direct.

When employees excel, you and your business excel. When your team succeeds, you and your business succeed. When you rescue a struggling employee and they become remarkable, remember they should be congratulated, not you.

You were just doing your job the way a remarkable boss should.

When you consistently act as if you are less important than your employees—and when you never ask employees to do something you don’t do—everyone knows how important you really are.

5. Always remember where you came from. See an autograph seeker blown off by a famous athlete and you might think, “If I was in a similar position I would never do that.”

Oops. Actually, you do. To some of your employees, especially new employees, you are at least slightly famous. You’re in charge. You’re the boss.

That's why an employee who wants to talk about something that seems inconsequential may just want to spend a few moments with you.

When that happens, you have a choice. You can blow the employee off... or you can see the moment for its true importance: A chance to inspire, reassure, motivate, and even give someone hope for greater things in their life. The higher you rise the greater the impact you can make—and the greater your responsibility to make that impact.

In the eyes of his or her employees, a remarkable boss is a star.

Remember where you came from, and be gracious with your stardom.

Post Shared from : Linked-in
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Criticism – can you do it politely?

At some point, as a manager you will have to tell someone that you don’t think they’ve done a good job – and it’s not always easy. Not only do you need to communicate your dissatisfaction with the way the job has been done, and require it to be improved, but you have to do this while making sure that the other person doesn’t feel personally attacked, embarrassed or humiliated. You need to be able to give effective, understandable criticism while staying polite and professional at all times.

Here are some tips to help:

1. Focus on the issue not the person

Always make your criticism constructive, focusing on the issue not the person, and where possible avoid negative formulae. Remember that you are both trying to achieve the best possible outcome, not exchange accusations or apportion blame. If you’re already feeling annoyed with the person’s attitude or there are other performance issues, try to separate them in your head: do you want to discuss this one unsatisfactory piece of work, or do you really want to have a broader discussion about the quality of their work in general? Whatever the answer, make sure you know what you want the outcome of this conversation to be, and don’t mix issues up. If necessary, schedule another time to have the bigger discussion, rather than confusing it with the work in hand.

2. Show appreciation

People are much more receptive to listening and acting on criticism if they feel you’re on their side. So first of all say something positive to the other person: for example, “Thank you so much for handing this piece of work in on time!” or: “Thanks very much for all your hard work in getting it done!” If they’ve done something you like, tell them so. Your aim is to communicate to them that the criticism you’re about to give relates to a specific issue and is not a criticism of them personally – you don’t want them to feel like a failure, or to get the impression you are angry (even if you are).

3. Don’t give mixed messages

When you say something positive, be very careful not to make them think that this unsatisfactory piece of work is better than it is. Don’t wrap your criticism up in too much praise: it will give a mixed message which will only confuse and frustrate them. For example, don’t say, “This report’s great! There are just one or two small things I’d like to discuss,” if you really want them to do a lot of rewriting. Once you’ve made your positive opening comment, tell them quite directly that you would like to discuss this piece of work with them, as you think it still needs a lot more effort (or whatever is appropriate to the situation). You can say, “I think it’s good but there are a couple of things I’d like changed,” or: “It’s basically fine but it’s not quite there yet.” If you’re very unhappy with the quality of the work, you can say, “I’m afraid that this still needs a lot of work.” Make it clear that what you’d like is to discuss ways in which to improve the situation – so that you both end up pleased with the result.

4. Right time, right place

You need to keep the tone of the conversation polite and calm, and you need to find the right environment to have it. That doesn’t mean standing next to the person at their desk, in a room full of other people, or giving them your feedback five minutes before their lunch hour! Ask if they have some time now to discuss the points you want to make, or arrange to meet later when it’s convenient for both of you. Then find a room or a quiet place where you can sit together without being interrupted.

5. Stay calm, polite and objective throughout

While you’re giving your criticism, look at the other person. Don’t just look at the computer screen or the page in front of you, or their left shoulder; watch their face and keep eye contact, if possible, making sure they understand what you’re saying. Remember that sometimes mistakes are made because people haven’t understood what they were supposed to be doing: maybe the briefing wasn’t good enough. Speak slowly and calmly, and don’t rush the conversation: allow them time to ask questions and make their own points. Above all, don’t let this turn into a blame session, don’t make personal comments about their abilities, and don’t get angry. If you feel you’re losing your cool, remember that it will only make matters worse.

6. Use the word “I” and not “you”

Rather than saying, for example, “You made a lot of mistakes in this section,” say, “I found quite a lot of mistakes in this section. Could you please correct them?”, making it clear you’re criticising the piece of work and not the person. Or, “I found the overall tone of this report rather negative. Could you have another look at it and try to make it more upbeat?” (Again, if it’s really the person you want to criticise, keep that separate. This discussion is about this piece of work.)

7. Make your point and then stop

Once you’ve said what you want to say, stop! Ask if they have understood what you’ve said, and allow them time to answer. Agree that you’ll have a follow-up when the work has been done, and show confidence in their ability to make the improvements themselves. (If you really think they are incapable of producing satisfactory work, then it’s time to have that bigger discussion about the standard of their work in general.) Finally, before you leave the room, show appreciation again for their efforts and end the discussion with a smile.

Learning to give feedback and criticism is crucial to building an effective team. It needs careful thought and sensitivity in order to avoid hurt feelings and a build-up of resentment. But if it’s done right, it can be painless and ultimately lead to stronger teams and higher quality work.

Content from : HP Technology at work
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan