What Does it Take to Be a Boss Your Team Loves?

In a competitive and progressive work environment, bosses have to be strategic, resourceful and showcase effective leadership to win over the employees. It takes continuous commitment and grit from the boss to demonstrate impeccable skills and set an example for the entire workforce.

Now, you may have had the chance to work for different types of bosses at different hierarchical levels. And every boss has a different approach to treat and communicate with the employees. But despite the leadership style, bosses have to unify their efforts and drive creativity in the workplace.

A great leader understands the short-term and long-term goals of the organization and moves forward to achieve its vision. From small businesses to large corporations, bosses have to be aware of employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Bosses often help employees realize their full potential through training initiatives.

Here are a few essential elements that every team loves to see in their boss:

Demonstrate Empathy with the Team

Research proves that empathy is a key driver for team leaders and managers to influence high performance. In fact, team leaders who exercise empathetic behavior with their team come across as genuine and great performers.

Demonstrating empathy also allows bosses to understand the emotions and behavior of their team members. And when managers are aware of their team members’ emotions – they can communicate better and specific solve problems quickly. Being empathetic and compassionate towards teams helps employers build a bond and foster positive relationships.

Exercise Leadership

The last thing employees expect from their boss is to drain their energy. Ideally, strategic, empathetic, and calculated bosses have a problem-solving mind. These bosses love to collaborate and engage with their employees to encourage productivity and ensure empowerment.

When the work is transparent across all levels, it builds mutual respect and trust between the boss and the team. So, instead of signaling and forcing your team to listen to your side, take responsibility and listen to your team.

In today’s leadership roles, there is no place for micromanaging that might hamper organizational values and goals. In fact, micromanaging would also impact the ability of the team to take care of basic tasks. Instead, bosses have to showcase that they are masters of the trade and possess in-depth knowledge to lead the team. This podcast episode may help!

Prioritize Direct Communication

Bosses that directly communicate with their team members have a better shot at building long-term and robust relationships in the workplace. Typically, great team leaders recognize the value of communication and how it can significantly improve the workflow. Effective communication is one of the foundational qualities for a boss to get noticed and appreciated by the team members.

With direct communication, bosses can better navigate meetings and set the direction for a specific project in motion. Whether it’s communicating in person or via online tools, team leaders have to maintain standards of communication with their team.

Delegate Tasks Practically and Effectively

Teams prefer to work for employers who delegate tasks practically and effectively. Naturally, employees don’t want to be bombarded with random tasks and unexpected and impractical demands. Strategic team leaders assign the “right” people for the “right” tasks.

Similarly, team leaders use modern tech tools to delegate and manage tasks efficiently. In a practical sense, team leaders split the responsibilities of a big project and learn to trust their teams to fulfill the obligations. Assigning vital tasks to team members also helps employees gain more confidence in their skills. But before delegating and managing tasks to team members, managers need to set clear expectations and goals for team members.

Provide Constructive Feedback

Instead of nitpicking and micromanaging teams, progressive team leaders provide constructive feedback to bring employees on the same page. Besides, team leaders now understand that proving authority by showcasing condescending behavior should not even be the last resort.

Today, managers, team leaders, and business owners have to understand the needs and concerns of their teams. And with constructive criticism, team leaders can help teams make significant improvements. One of the hallmark elements of strong leadership is to approach every team member with tact and empathy.

After all, no one likes a toxic boss who belittles and makes threats to employees for communication. The modern-day business landscape now favors bosses who create a positive work environment where employees can engage and converse. Consequently, it leads to a vibrant work culture where people are recognized for their accomplishments.

Help Individual Team Members Realize their Potential

Today, many employees crave recognition from their employers. Unlike poor team leaders that are often biased, great managers and bosses know how to bring out the best in each team member without prejudice or unfair performance reviews.

Best team leaders value the performance and effort of team members. And the focus of team leaders is to help employees figure out their faults and weaknesses through constructive criticism rather than confrontation. Oftentimes, all it takes for team leaders is to leverage the advanced technology to train and guide team members.

Inspire the Team

One of the attributes that teams love to see in their boss is the willingness to motivate and inspire others. For starters, team leaders can boost the morale of the employees by listening to their problems and how some external or internal issues might be impacting their work.

High morale in the work environment inspires teams and sets a high bar for productivity. Team leaders should build a positive and open workplace culture to inspire and motivate employees. And when team members feel like they’re part of something bigger or contributing towards something – it leads to more innovation and improves the quality of work across the board.

Final Thoughts

In hindsight, being a boss is about handling your team with empathy. It is also about communicating rather than commanding your team. Great bosses cultivate an optimistic work environment by encouraging teams to improve themselves. Of course, not every team member has to strive for perfection.

But great bosses know how to positively influence their employees’ professional and personal lives. Bosses help team members improve their skills so they can assume the responsibilities of a senior role. And instead of promising overnight success, great bosses actively make an effort to help team members improve.

For further reading about what motivates employees, have a look at this blog post.