I was complaining to my girlfriend Gill recently about my boss, a woman who is never there, fails to inspire or motivate us and who rarely does any favors whatsoever for her team. I was pretty envious in fact when, after complaining about my boss, Gill told me that her boss in the office, Mike Giuffrida, is the best boss that she has ever had, and that her team greatly respect and enjoy working with him. I wanted to pick her brains a little further about what it was about him that made him such a good manager and leader, and here is what she had to say, if you are a manager, perhaps you could be inspired by this man.
Communication
Many managers struggle to communicate effectively with their team but this is not something which Mr. Giuffrida suffers from. Gill tells me that her boss is always speaking with the team about instructions for tasks and is always on hand for any kind of support which the team amy need. In fact because Mike is so good wen it comes to communication, my friend tells me that a mishap or an issue because of poor communication is something which almost never happens, I cannot say the same about my boss.
Give and Take
Another attribute which Gill’s boss has is understanding perfectly the notion of give and take and that whilst he expects great things from his team, he understand how to show appreciation. For example she tells me that there are many times when the boss may ask the team to stay back late or work extra in order to get a project finished. In such a situation Gill says that there are rarely any objections, because they all know that if they need an hour or two off work, or even an emergency day, Mike is always more than happy to accommodate.
Inspiration
One of the most important jobs which any leader has is having to inspire their team daily and motivate them in order to get the very best from their team. This, Gill tells me, is something which her boss has in abundance and that he is able to get the team going and firing on all cylinders, simply because of the way in which he talks and challenges people.
Fairness and Consistency
As much as we may like or loathe our bosses ultimately they have a job to do and there are times when they need to discipline members of staff. In such a situation the very least that you should expect is fairness and consistency and this is something which my friend tells me that her boss does very well. Gill’s boss has no favorites and if he needs to be strong with someone then he will be, he never does so unnecessarily however and this is something which has garnered respect from his team.
Why kind of boss do you have? Are they like mine or are they more like Mike?