Author Archives: Larry Janis

5 things all good bosses have in common

 

 

 

 

BY KATHLEEN DAVIS

 

 

We write a lot about bad bosses. After all, a bad boss can ruin everything you might like about your job. But what about the good bosses? The people who support your career development, make you feel valued, are open to feedback, and who hold themselves accountable? Good bosses are out there; and chances are, if you’re reading this you might be a manager who (like me) hopes that the people you work with view you in such a positive light.

But there’s a reason why stories of bad bosses are so plentiful: Being a manager is hard. It’s easy to fall back on bad habits, or pass the buck, or transfer pressure from above to your direct reports.

Still, I don’t have to tell you the importance of striving to be a better boss. It’s not about just doing what’s right—though that’s really important! Being the type of boss that people want to work for means you are less likely to have employees who quit—or who stay but aren’t engaged or productive. So, what can you do to be a better boss? Here’s a good place to start:

1. TRUST YOUR EMPLOYEES

The number-one complaint that employees have about their bosses is micromanaging and that stems from a lack of trust. Good bosses, on the other hand, trust that their employees are smart, capable adults. They focus on results instead of wasting time worrying that things are done exactly how they would do them.

2. CHECK YOUR EGO AND DO THE WORK

You’ve likely heard the adage about not asking someone to do work you wouldn’t or haven’t done yourself. Good bosses aren’t dictators who give orders; they understand what’s a reasonable workload and don’t view themselves as above any job. In fact, pitching in to help when needed is a good refresher for managers who find themselves removed from the day-to-day duties, and it shows that you really are part of a team.

3. CELEBRATE PROGRESS AND GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

These are different sides of the same coin and equally important. You may have the best boss in the world, but if your work is never acknowledged, you’ll eventually feel like there’s no point in working hard. And if you make mistakes or have gaps in your skills or knowledge, a “nice” boss who never helps you improve isn’t doing you any favors in your career development.

4. VIEW EMPLOYEES AS PEOPLE FIRST

Work is not your family; good bosses know this and respect that their employees have families, personal obligations, and interests that will sometimes need to take priority. Good bosses get to know who their employees are as people and give them the grace and flexibility when needed.

5. COMMUNICATE AND BE HONEST

You can’t expect employees to feel motivated if they don’t understand what they are working for. The job of a good boss—especially a middle manager—is to clearly communicate what they know with their employees. Ambiguity leads to speculation, worry, and confusion, especially during challenging times. Good bosses tell as much as they can and admit when there are things they don’t know.

 

Source: Fast Company

 

Leadership Should Be a Team Sport

 

 

 

 

 

by Graham Ward

 

Actions speak louder than titles and every voice holds the power to lead.

 

 

Just as there is no yin without yang, there is no leadership without followership. The two interdependent and complementary roles cannot exist without each other. 

Followership is the symbiotic interchange between a leader and those they seek to influence. However, the word has long carried connotations of subservience, implying that followers are subordinates – a term derived from the Latin word for “lower order”. This notion is deeply misguided.

Although the concept of followership is often associated with hierarchy, in organisations, the reality is that important things are accomplished through meaningful discussions between groups of people, horizontally. And while it is true that individuals “hold” symbolic positions of authority, for organisations to flourish, the distance between authority figures and those executing important work needs to be greatly reduced. 

Indeed, in the best social systems and organisations, where difficult, adaptive work really gets done, leadership is not a fixed or rigid position but rather a fluid and distributed set of activities.This blurring of roles allows for the most suitable individuals or groups to take on leadership responsibilities, especially when they are better equipped to deliver.

The importance of playing out of position 

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Your Dream Job May Not Exist, and That’s Okay

 

 

by Winnie Jiang, INSEAD

 

Anyone can grow passion and find fulfilment in a wide range of careers.

For decades, the mantra “follow your passion” has been one of the most popular pieces of career advice. Ever since Steve Jobs famously told Stanford graduates back in 2005 to “find what you love”, university students have been nudged to pursue careers that align perfectly with their personal interests. But this approach can be misguided. 

For many of us who do not know exactly what we like or want to do early on, the pursuit of a perfect career fit can lead to anxiety and divert time away from accumulating actual work experience. This unrealistic expectation can also exacerbate social inequalities.

In her book, The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality, Erin Cech argues that students from underprivileged backgrounds are particularly vulnerable to the pitfalls of this advice. This is because they lack the financial safety nets and don’t have the luxury to spend time exploring various career options before making a definitive decision. 

Encouraging individuals from every walk of life to pursue their passions might make them feel that earning a good salary and having job security are not important. This could steer those who are financially disadvantaged away from careers that are more likely to help them move up in society. 

So, should we do away with this “passion principle”entirely? Not necessarily. But we do need to refine our perspective on passion.

Don’t follow your passion, grow it 

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How to strategically network above you to get the promotion you deserve

 

 

By Lisa Lutoff-Perlo

 

Have you ever felt like you were ready for a promotion but passed over? Overly qualified for a job, but rejected? Thought you were next in line for your boss’s role, but told by another leader that you weren’t ready? If so, then you’re far from alone.

As former President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo knows all about the frustrating waiting game that many executives face when trying to take their career from one level to the next. In her latest book, “Making Waves: A Woman’s Rise to the Top Using Smarts, Heart and Courage,” she explains her 30-plus year career journey at Royal Caribbean International and how she eventually became a chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead one of the company’s cruise line brands.

In the below excerpt, Lutoff-Perlo, who now serves as Vice Chairman of External Affairs for the Royal Caribbean Group, discusses how networking and building relationships with colleagues who were at least one to two levels above her at work led her to her dream role. — Courtney Connley

Excerpt from “Making Waves: A Woman’s Rise to the Top Using Smarts, Heart and Courage.”

One of the lessons I learned at a critical time in my career was that I hadn’t navigated my career at least two levels above and more broadly across our organization. At that time, I worked directly for two men at different brands who had vacated their presidency roles, and both believed I was the right person for their position. They even recommended me for it. But I hadn’t navigated my career above or beside them. I had only navigated my career as their direct report. This made my exposure limited and didn’t help me get either position, despite the recommendations. (more…)

Do You Really Want To Lead? Here’s A Reality Check Before That Promotion

 

 

 

by Adam Bryant

 

You’ve been crushing it as an individual contributor, and now your bosses have come to you to talk about stepping up into a leadership position. Or maybe an opening has come up for a team-leader role, and you’re thinking it’s time for you to throw your hat in the ring and take on the challenge of your first management position.

Before you make that leap to leader, though, I urge you to hit the pause button and spend some time to hold a mirror up to yourself and examine your motivations. Because leading others is harder than it looks from a distance.

That’s not to say it won’t be incredibly fulfilling to have a broader impact, to be able to achieve through others, and to feel the rewards of coaching others to raise their game and lift the trajectory of their careers.

But managing and leading others have always been difficult, and these roles have become even more difficult in the last few years. People who take on their first management role are often surprised to find out how much of their day is consumed by people issues and putting out fires. It can be hard to get work done at work, and so the day starts earlier and ends later, and the work often bleeds into weekends.

The expectations of leaders have grown exponentially, as the lines between personal and professional lives have blurred. Employees want their managers to be authentic, compassionate, human and vulnerable, while the bosses of those same managers are also putting more pressure on them to drive performance. And all the broader societal problems and issues have bled into the workplace, requiring managers and leaders to navigate divisive issues with the skill of a politician.

In my experience, people do not spend enough time researching the day-to-day realities of the jobs they are about to take on. By contrast, when high school students are considering which college to attend, many of them go on ambitious tours with their parents to visit a number of campuses to figure out which one feels right to them.

But with management and leadership jobs, there are so many broader forces that carry people along into these roles, as if they were simply being swept along by a powerful tide. After all, management roles often bring with them a raise, more impressive title and a bigger workspace at the office (for those still working in an office). Through social media, announcements of a big promotion lead to a shower of likes. And then the surprising reality of the job settles in.

You may be thinking that I sound grim. That is not my intention. The world needs better leaders, and I have the utmost respect for anyone who appreciates the privilege and responsibility of these roles. My advice here is two-fold: Do some research by talking to people about what these roles entail, to minimize the chance that you are surprised by what you encounter when you step into them. Know what you are getting into.

Second, be clear on your “why.” If it just for more money or power, those aren’t going to sustain you long-term. Yes, the pay bump can be meaningful, but the additional money may not feel worth it, given the additional challenges you’re facing every day. And power? That’s not going to cut it, either. While there are still too many companies that tolerate bad bosses, the tolerance among employees for command-and-control managers is dwindling.

So what should be your why? Your answer will be as unique as your fingerprints, but I do believe that it should about more selfless motivations—that you want to have an impact and lift your organization and the members of your team. That will be the strongest tailwind for you when you encounter the inevitable headwinds of leadership roles.

 

Source: Forbes