Being a Boss is Two Jobs in One
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If you're responsible for the performance of a group, then you're a boss. And as a boss you have two jobs.
One job is to accomplish the mission through the group. Note well: "through the group." Your job is to help the team accomplish the mission, not do it yourself. Here are some things you need to do in order to do this job well.
Focus on output. Meaningful metrics measure how you serve your customer, whether that customer is inside the company or outside.
Build on strengths while making weaknesses irrelevant. This is the way to high performance.
Allocate resources to opportunities. There is a human tendency to allocate resources to problems. You'll do better if you put your time, energy, and effort into opportunities.
Your other job is to care for your people. This is not warm, fuzzy stuff. The Marines do it. So should you. Here are some things you need to do in order to do this job well.
Keep them safe. That means safe from The Powers That Be, safe from you, and safe from each other.
Help them grow and develop. Be on the lookout for strengths they can develop and opportunities for them to grow as individuals and as a team.
Ruthlessly weed out the unfit and the unwilling. Non-performers are corrosive to both morale and performance.
Both jobs are important. There are going to be trade-offs and tough choices. But that's no reason not to do the best you can.
Boss's Bottom Line
Great teams have high morale and high productivity. That's because they're led by people who understand that they have two jobs as a boss and who do them both well.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: supervision,Great Working Environment,Management,Leadership
Tags: Supervision Management Leadership
What I like so much about this post is that it is short, clear and understandable. I think what so often happens is wise words like these get mired in all sorts of other "stuff" which loses the impact of the simple points you are making Wally
Wonderful
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You're right, Jackie. Most of the work of being a boss is pretty straightforward and pretty simple. Sometimes it's hard to see that when we gussy it up with fancy phrases and try to support our words with ponderous theories.
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Kudos!
From someone that has employed both methods successfully and unsuccessfully, you're spot on!
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Thanks, Scott. Nice to have a voice of experience stop by.
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Not sure you can even do the first well if you can't or don't do the second well. It still amazes me how many people still get promoted to be a boss who have no idea how to do either.
Nice post Wally!
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Good point, Susan. I think the two are mutually reinforcing. People like and draw strength from being on a productive team. When I ask people for their best working experience ever, productivity is always mentioned. But so is working with great people.
We've fallen off the horse two different ways on this. First, most of our training and literature concentrates on one or the other, not both as a system. Second. We confused the idea of "making people happy" with "helping people grow, develop and be productive."
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I call this "Human Business"
Human without business is impotent. Business without human is dangerous.
Mark
http://integrationtraining.blogspot.com/
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Thanks for adding that interesting perspective. It's a provocative way to phrase things.
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Great post Wally! If caring for your people works for the Marines, it certainly has a place in the workplace too!
I have included your post in my weekly Rainmaker 'Fab Five' blog picks of the week (found here: http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2009/05/the-rainmaker-fab-five-blog-picks-of-the-week.html) to share your message with my readers.
Be well Wally!
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Thanks, Chris. It's always an honor to make the Fab Five.
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