Are You a Boss or a Leader?
If you’re an entrepreneur, then you’ve probably already wondered if the attitude towards your employees is the “correct” one (where “correct” = the way to keep them motivated and happy at their workplace because yes, their happiness matters not only to themselves, but to your business, too). Finally, your days of worrying are done for the way to find out the truth has been found! Joke aside, you can read below and find out which of these alternatives do you identify yourself best with. In case you were wondering: they work for both small business owners and large corporation C-level executives.
Be the leader that people want to follow
- Delegate the easier task or delegate based on priority?
In other words, do you delegate the small things that anyone can do or do you trust your team enough to allow them to shine on their own? If you tend to agree more with the first part of the phrase, then, bad news: you are still a boss. A true leader knows how to choose his team so that he can trust them with anything he can trust himself. It’s OK< you still have time to learn the ways of leadership: assign your team a complex task and allow them to work freely for a while. They might surprise you!
- Micromanage or let go?
Do you like to be involved in every step every department makes and approve every document or design that leaves the company? Then you don’t trust your team enough to be a leader yet. If you maim their creativity, your team will never strive to reach greatness; instead, they will quickly learn what “the boss” likes and what he doesn’t and will constantly serve you the same “deal”. Next time you feel like controlling everything, remember that no one wins from stagnation and learn how to guide instead of micromanage.
- Motivate or reprimand?
What is your favorite way of keeping your team on their toes: reminding them that the yearly bonuses are up for a review and some people may be cut off the list or praising the employees who did a good job? People work for more than money; in fact, research shows that there is a certain financial threshold that, once reached, the money motivation doesn’t work anymore. Instead of that, people need to feel meaningful as cherished. If you can make them feel that way, your journey from boss to leader is half way done.
- Give credit or assign blame?
Great leaders know how to take risks and how to accept the consequences. So, if a business decision goes south, who’s to blame: the one who initiated it or those who couldn’t implement it correctly? Whatever you may want to say here, remember that you are the one who chose the team, assigned the tasks and initiated the strategy. It does sound like too big a hat for a single person, doesn’t it?
- Who knows best: you or the team?
Assuming that you didn’t hire a full regiment of secretaries, the people that work for you have various skills and various degrees, right? After all, this is why you hired them, because a single person can’t master everything. Of course, as an entrepreneur you know a little bit about finance, advertising, HR, marketing and, naturally, a little more about your own niche. But the people you hired are specialists at one of these things and odds are they know their stuff better than you. Thus, turning to them for guidance is not a sign of weakness; it’s a sing of great leadership that knows how to make the most of everything and everyone.
How did you score? Out of 5 questions, how many put you in the “boss” zone and how many in the “leader” zone? Whatever the answer, there’s no need to panic: another sign of great leaders is that they are constantly willing to learn and improve themselves.
Image source: inc.com
