How Not To Be a Bad Boss

Most of us do not like the idea of working for someone else. Nevertheless, most of us would have started our journey in the working world, well, working for someone else. As it goes by, some of us may hear the inner-entrepreneur in us speak. Soon we find ourselves arranging, building, planning and pushing our own start-ups. Building a business is hard work, and full dedication is needed if you want your business to succeed and reap the rewards.

So just like yourself, you soon find yourself in the position of being the boss. So it is great isn’t it being the head-honcho? No more taking orders from people and feel like you are being sandwiched between two hot buns (clients and your boss). As good as it may sound, but it could also be a nightmare you could never have imagined.

Ever wonder why your old boss barks at everyone in the office, and scrutinises everything from employee working habits to company finances (for obvious reasons)? You as the boss now would soon find out why your old boss was like that. It takes a lot out of them to control their businesses and nobody would like to see their businesses go down the drain because of a few tiny, but fatal mistakes. All of this however, does not mean you have to become an object of hatred.

WHAT MAKES A BAD BOSS?

Being the boss may not be the most fun thing in the world to be and it also holds many tough challenges; not just on your company’s daily operations, but also the internal relationships that you have with your employees. Have you ever had the thought run through your mind whether you may be considered as a bad boss? Ever wondered whether your actions and decisions could have impaired your relationship with your employees, causing them to hate you and stab your back?

Being stiff and outwardly mean can de-motivate your employees and be counter-productive. “But we need to be in control”, sometimes we say, but on the contrary to actually being ‘in control’; you may fare worse off by doing so. Being in control of your business doesn’t mean holding an iron-fist styled dictator-like grip on everything that happens in your business environment. So how do we keep everything in control without being a stickler?

[this is an excerpt from the article of the same name which appears in SME Magazine March 2009]