“We struggle with the complexities and we ignore the simplicities.”
—NORMAN VINCENT PEALE
IN CHAPTERS ONE THROUGH FOUR we laid a foundation for the next three chapters, which are the crux of this entire book. We urge you to keep returning to these three chapters from time to time because they serve as a compass to keep you on course toward becoming a great boss.
This chapter sets up a baseline for everything that comes next. Let’s look at the big picture first. What really will separate you from the pack? We’ll start with a guiding principle: A great boss creates a work environment where people are fully engaged and highly accountable.
How would you rate the level of accountability in your organization on a scale of 1–10 (where 10 is high)? If you’re like most of the bosses we’ve interviewed, you rated accountability low, usually a 4. It’s one of the many “people issues” that frustrate bosses. You assign jobs to your people, only to be frustrated when they don’t follow through and accomplish them.
Before we get to the heart of what you must do to become a great boss, there are Four Truths that you must embrace, because if you don’t, none of what you read here will matter.
THE FOUR TRUTHS
Truth 1: Being a Great Boss Can Be Simple
Thousands of books have been written on leadership and management. They can be confusing, contradictory, and tie you up in knots with theory and complexity. Some will list thirty or more characteristics that you must have and dozens of things that you must do. This is an example of what Norman Vincent Peale is describing when he states, “We struggle with the complexities and we ignore the simplicities.” The truth is, if you do five things consistently as a leader and five things consistently as a manager, you will be a great boss. It’s that simple!
Truth 2: Your Style Does Not Have to Change
It doesn’t matter if you’re nice or tough, introverted or extroverted, charismatic or reserved. Just be yourself. When you are authentic, you are more believable and you will build trust. Don’t be intimidated by what you read regarding high-profile leaders who have lots of charm, or worry that you’ll never measure up to their larger-than-life personalities. You don’t have to change your style. You have to be you for people to believe in you.
Truth 3: You Must Genuinely Care About Your People
You can’t fake it. Your people will know if you care about them. There’s an old saying: people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. You could still apply what we will teach you in this chapter and you’ll be pretty good. However, if you don’t care, you’ll never be great. It’s like trying to be a great parent but not really caring about your kids.
Truth 4: You Must Want to Be Great
There’s no middle ground here. You must genuinely desire to become a great boss. That means being willing to invest the time necessary to continuously improve yourself. For your business to grow, you must grow. If you don’t want to put in the effort, none of what we teach you will stick. After all, the title of this book is How to Be a Great Boss.
Assuming that you embrace the Four Truths, let’s get to work.
As a boss, you must fully provide your direct reports with effective leadership and management. This takes time. Sometimes you’ve failed to provide both because you’ve become overwhelmed by the 136 things that you’re involved in and you don’t have the time to lead and manage your people. If this is the situation you find yourself in, go back to chapter four and apply the learning from the Delegate and Elevate exercise to free up and devote the right amount of time to your people. When you don’t have the time to lead and manage, accountability slips, because it comes from being a great leader and a great manager. You can’t demand accountability or wish for it. You must create it by applying a simple equation:
Leadership + Management = Accountability (L+M=A)
There is a distinct difference between leadership and management. Leadership involves working “on” the business. It entails providing clear direction, creating an opening for people, and taking time to think. Management, on the other hand, involves working “in” the business: creating clear expectations, communicating well, and ensuring that things get done. Diagram 10 illustrates these points:
Diagram 10
Being a great leader doesn’t make you a great manager and vice versa. To become a great boss, you must consistently do five things as a leader and five things as a manager. We call these things “practices” because it takes consistent practice of each of the five to become great.
Here is another way to describe the difference between leadership and management: Vision and Traction. Leadership consists of creating a Vision, and Management consists of gaining Traction to achieve it. You cannot succeed without both.
One of the most prolific inventors of all time clearly understood this. Thomas Edison, among other notables, said, “Vision without execution is hallucination.” We tell our clients a variation of the same thing: “Vision without Traction is Hallucination.” A lack of either or both frustrates everyone. In fact, “lack of growth” is another one of the most common frustrations that bosses share with us. Great bosses (those who lead and manage) understand the importance of having a Vision and the Traction necessary to achieve it. Growth is the outcome of having both, as Diagram 11 illustrates:
Diagram 11
As we are about to do a deep dive into the practices that make for great leaders and managers, we need you to think about all the people that report directly to you. Depending on the size of your organization or department, they typically number one to eight, possibly more if you supervise people who perform essentially the same type of work. Regardless of the number, we need you to hold that number in your mind. As we take you through the Five Leadership Practices™ in chapter six, and the Five Management Practices™ in chapter seven, we’ll ask you for an all-or-nothing response. We will state the practice, teach the practice, and then ask you to answer yes or no as to whether or not you are doing the practice. For you to answer yes to each practice, you must be doing it with all of your direct reports. If you’re failing to do one of them with one or more of your people, you must answer no.
Be completely honest with yourself. You’re creating awareness of the gaps you must bridge, the skills you must apply, and the time you must invest to truly become great. So, don’t kid yourself. Let’s start with the Five Leadership Practices.