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This blog entry has been adapted from the February 2011 issue of The Quest for Workplace Excellence (sign up here)

Bad bosses. Chances are good that at least once in each of our careers we are challenged with working for a bad boss. These bosses are bad for our careers, our health and our work-life balance. Unfortunately, bad bosses are just part of the real world and we have to find a way to make it work.

The question is: how?

Several times each year, we are hired to be an Executive Coach to leaders who identify their boss as the main cause of their problems at work. More specifically, if their boss was a better leader who did what they felt needed to be done, they themselves would be a better manager or leader.

Specific examples we have heard are that their boss:

Is a micro-manager
Is not trustworthy or doesn’t keep promises
Gave a poor rating on the employee’s performance review
Gave no raise, or not enough of a raise
Does not stand behind decisions made by employees
Is moody
Is a “know it all” and does not listen
Has questionable ethics
Is disrespectful

What if you work with a boss that does one of these bad behaviors? Worse, what if you work with a boss who does all these behaviors…a real jerk?

Continue reading “6 Things Not to Do When Your Boss is a Jerk” »

Make Sure that Your Vision is More than Just a Piece of Paper on the Wall

Employees may like reading a mystery, but they don’t like working in one. Heidi Grant Halvorson, writing for Fast Company, says it right when she says, “Make a point of saying exactly what you mean, and asking for exactly what you want, and you will be pleasantly surprised by how often you get it.” It is difficult, if not impossible, for employees to arrive at their destination if you, their boss, are not crystal clear in providing them the directions and road map detailing their journey.

In our twenty years of conducting employee opinion surveys, we have collected data from 100,000 employees and have noted significant variances between the Overall PBS Benchmark and the Best-of-the-Best PBS Benchmark-the top 25% percent of organizations surveyed. (Click here for more information on PBS Benchmarks)

One thing that has caught our attention over the years is that the Best-of-the-Best PBS Benchmark is significantly higher than the Overall PBS Benchmark in the communication category. Here’s what the Best-of-the-Best organizations do better:

Continue reading “3 Keys to Clearly Communicating the Organizational Vision to Employees” »

Servant Leadership

Despite founding the company, the reality is I work for each of the members of our team, not the other way around.

This idea, which is called servant leadership, became popular in an essay written by Robert Greenleaf in 1970 titled The Servant Leader. Although Greenleaf brought life to the concept for today’s leaders, the general concept dates back to 4th century BC when Chanakya authored a book titled Arthashastra and stated:

“The king [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects [followers].” “The king [leader] is a paid servant and enjoys the resources of the state together with the people.”

Continue reading “Who Do You Work For?” »

Handling Problem Employees

Several managers have relayed stories to us about their employees’ lack of commitment and support for teamwork. Sometimes the employees are relatively new to the organization. More often than not, the employees they are describing have been with the organization or the department for a long time. Either way, when employees do not display behaviors that promote teamwork, there is a problem and the manager needs to address the issue.

Team members do not have to like teamwork. They do not even have to believe that the formation of the team was a good idea. But team members are supposed to do everything that they can, in their particular job, to make the team successful. That is their job.

Continue reading “What Should a Manager Do When Employees Are Not Team Players?” »

Even in the Face of Opposition

Robert F. Kennedy once said, “About twenty percent of the people are against any change.” Our findings, in working with managers and supervisors tasked with leading organizational change, support Kennedy’s theory. No matter how effective a leader you are, it is not uncommon for you to periodically find your change efforts being challenged, or even sabotaged. Some people seem to come programmed with a basic distrust of any change and will work frantically to preserve “the way things used to be around here.” While we can’t change the behavior of others, we can change our own. The following six tips will help you successfully lead your team forward, even if you face a sea of resistance.

Continue reading “Leading Organizational Change with Confidence” »

When we ask participants in seminars why it is important to listen, the responses almost always relate to the need to gain accurate information from employees. That is correct, but it’s only a small part of the reason why it’s important to listen. A greater concern to a leader should be that their employees truly believe that their leader cares about them. One way to say that you truly care about employees and value their opinions is by listening to them with undivided attention.

The following tips will help you to listen more accurately and convey the feeling to others that you really do care about them and value their opinions. Listening involves not only hearing the speaker’s words, but also understanding the message and its importance to the speaker, and then communicating that understanding to the speaker.

Following these five guidelines will improve your listening ability:

Continue reading “Great Leaders are Great Listeners” »

A Key to Leadership

Whether you are a new or seasoned manager, building trust with your employees and your supervisor is critical to your ability to get things done. Some people in every organization have clout. Clout can be defined as the ability to influence others to get things done. Others in organizations do not have this same ability. Why? The answer may boil down to the level of trust others have in you and your ability to get things done.

The following are seven suggestions that will help you build trust with your supervisor and your employees:

Continue reading “Building Trust with Your Supervisor and Your Employees” »