Supervisor, Manager, Leader: The Basics of Being a Boss

by Mike Kraus

The Four Cs of Leadership

Commitment

committed to the organization.

leader is committed to the guiding documents, the core values, the mission, and the vision of the organization.

guiding documents, mission, core values, and vision becomes routine.

committed leader must always be aware of what he or she is saying and who is hearing it.

Be the example, not the hypocrite.

being committed to the organization also means the leader must be committed to the employees for whom he or she is responsible.

employees make up the organization, and success is clearly impossible without them.

when the organization succeeds, everyone in the organization wins.

Communication

Drop your ego and listen to your people.

Listening to your people is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it will be looked on as a strength through your people’s eyes. Let them—no, encourage them to—question everything.

If the new way is better, you’ve gained efficiency, improved productivity, increased safety for your people, or simply found a better way to do things.

Communication is critical for a leader.

An effective leader must continually communicate the contents of the strategic or business plan of the organization to his or her people.

includes the daily mission, the vision, and the core values.

must continually evaluate his or her teams and communicate to them how they are doing.

An effective leader keeps his or her people informed on what is going on in the organization.

Your people need and deserve to hear all information that may pertain to or affect them. This includes good news, bad news, and anything in between.

To your people, you are the voice of the organization. They must be able to count on you to keep them informed.

Collaborate

working together to accomplish a goal, solve a problem, or overcome an obstacle. Supervisors, managers, and even leaders sometimes think they can (or are expected to) accomplish, solve, or overcome problems or issues by themselves due to their position in the organization.

1) lack of original or outside-the-box ideas and solutions due to lack of diversity of opinion; 2) poor time management; 3) decreased odds of coming up with a good result.

Compromise

what actually happens when leaders aren’t willing to compromise in our organizations? Nothing. That’s what happens: nothing.

begins to slip into mediocrity and eventual failure.

isn’t it better to compromise and get 50 percent of what you want than to not compromise and get 0 percent of what you want?

leaders must first create an environment based upon trust to generally accomplish anything, and more specifically to earn the ability to utilize the tool of compromise, so the organization can move forward.

Compromising is not a sign of weakness

The ability to compromise on organizational issues and move forward is a sign of strength in a leader.

The willingness to compromise when necessary is a critical aspect of leading your organization to success.

(accurate training records are critical)

available for every employee in the organization to access, and goals that are accepted and supported by the leadership of the organization.

develop a program that trains new employees in the basics of their jobs (including those personal skills that help make employees more efficient and effective in their jobs and prepare individuals for the next step up the promotional ladder, including supervisory, management, and leadersh...

“When you maximize the potential of your individuals—you maximize the po...

Pay attention to your people’s job performance or their performance on promotional examinations. If they’re not performing to your or the organization’s expectations, you need to look at yourself and the organization before you criticize your employees. Ask yourself, “Have we really given them the training they need to perform at a level that makes them and the organization successful?”

Find out what skills or information they need or want and see what is available.

important for you as a leader to actually involve yourself in the training. This shows your people that you wouldn’t ask them to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. It also shows that you are constantly trying to maintain and even improve your skills and that you are not above getting in the trenches with them. Most importantly, it helps you to stay current on what you’re asking your people to do on a daily basis.

A Leader’s Decision-Making Process

Albert Camus: “Life is the sum of all your choices.”

every decision

affects the rest of th...

we gain more respect for admitting our mistakes than for trying to stand by poor decisions.

the most important aspect of making significant decisions—emergency or nonemergency in nature—is trusting yourself.

No matter how good you think you are or how much you think you can accomplish, you need to realize that you are only human. You simply cannot do it all. Leaders must learn to delegate.

four huge benefits to delegating:

First, as an organization you will all accomplish more. Second, as a leader, you are freed up to focus on the bigger-picture issues for which you are responsible.

Third, you utilize the expertise of your people.

responsibility and authority.