Bad management is not usually a result of bosses not knowing what to do to manage better. Rather, it stems largely from bosses not putting conventional managerial skills into practice. Little wonder, then, that despite the billions that organizations pour into managerial training, instances of shoddy management abound.

Here are a few simple and specific actions you can take now to become an effective boss.

1. Smile more
2. Appreciate more, judge less
3. Compliment openly; critique and correct in private
4. Don’t worry about who gets credit; give credit where due
5. Give feedback now; don’t wait until the next performance review
6. Reiterate employees’ strengths and make them feel smarter
7. Get rid of busy work
8. Simplify work and encourage expediency
9. Establish deadlines and stick with them
10. Organize employees’ time and priorities
11. Explain what needs to be done and get out of the way
12. Avoid giving conflicting orders
13. Find the time to listen to your employees and follow-up
14. Recognize the small picture
15. Seek to understand what inhibits employee effectiveness
16. Give employees adequate latitude
17. Fix problems, not blames
18. Encourage mistakes; own up to your mistakes
19. Standup for your employees
20. Encourage participation in decision-making
21. Be tough-minded, not mean
22. Do not play favorites; discourage sucking up
23. Be accessible and friendly, yet consistent and objective
24. Earn respect; don’t demand deference
25. Attempt to influence by persuasion, not by wielding authority

Recommended Reading

• Four keys to an excellent relationship with your boss
• What are your excuses for not praising people
• Four telltale signs of an unhappy employee
• People want their thinking to count
• The ‘Puppy Theory’ of giving feedback too late

***See other articles related to being a better boss, managerial skills, leadership skills, office environment

Consider the all-too-familiar boss’s pet employee at an office. He uses flattery, goes out of his way to help the boss, curries personal favors, and constantly tows the boss’s line no matter how unreasonable it is. He never corrects the boss when necessary. He either sugarcoats or withholds information that the boss would rather not hear. Over time, he has perfected the art of stroking his boss’s exaggerated sense of self-worth.

How about leaders who go overboard on their intention to exceed customer expectations and turn out to be “customer compelled?” They bend over backward to fulfill every whim and fancy of their customers to the likely peril of their own organization’s values and priorities.

Sucking up or brown-nosing is widespread approach to win a boss’s approval solely with one’s own self-interest in mind. Consider the consequences of sucking up:

• An employee that sucks up to his boss loses the respect of his peers and employees. They assume positive discrimination and favoritism because of his ingratiatory behavior. The suck-up recursively promotes sucking up in his organization — he encourages others to establish themselves in his good graces.
• Suck-ups quickly get into a pattern of slavishly reacting to every impulse of the boss. Without realizing, they become vulnerable to obligations to support their boss. Neither can they set limits on favors, nor do they stand up for themselves or their employees.

Be Resourceful, Don’t Suck Up

“One does not make the strengths of the boss productive by toadying to him. One does it by starting out with what is right and presenting it in a form which is accessible to the superior.”
* Peter Drucker, in The Effective Executive

Contrary to popular opinion, a vast majority of promotions are not handed out to employees who are most willing to suck up. Research and empirical evidence proves that employees who are honest, sincere, open, straightforward, and helpful earn management’s respect and attention over time. They move up fast because of their demonstrated ability to make the right choices. In addition, most people can innately distinguish the brown-nosers and differentiate genuine compliments from insincere flattery.

Do not get me wrong. There is enormous value in being helpful to the boss. After all, making yourself resourceful can go a long way in staying in the boss’s good graces. It can open professional opportunities and increase your access to new ideas, initiatives, and restricted information. However, there is an obvious boundary between doing favors and sucking up. Running an urgent errand when the boss is busy preparing for an important meeting or watching over his pet when he is travelling are well within reason. Compromising your values and priorities just to get on the boss’s side will not get you anywhere in the long term. Try these suggestions:

• Be sincere and timely in your compliments. Refrain from making flattering remarks.
• Use facts and logic to support or challenge the boss’s ideas. Never praise, or comment on your boss or his plans in front of others.
• Ask your boss how you could help him achieve his goals and follow-up earnestly.

Recommended Reading

• Four keys to an excellent relationship with your boss
• Never surprise your boss
• How to seek proactive feedback from your manager
• Are you ready for a promotion?
• Talent is more than skin-deep

***See other articles related to Managing the boss, flattery, promotions, career planning, managing people, sucking up