Business Leadership: Five Ways To Be A Better Boss

Are you a business owner managing people? You'll get the best returns from your team with effective business leadership. Here are five top tips to help you...

How To Get The Most Optimal ROI From Effective Business Leadership

Of almost thirty million businesses currently operating in the U.S.:

• About 80% don’t have any employees
• The remaining 20% of entrepreneurs will need to deal with the challenge of managing people

For the first set of business owners, this means only having the business to worry about. For the second set, being the boss has been cited by business owners as being one of the biggest challenges of owning a company.

Whether you’ve been managing a team for some time or are considering taking your business to the next level by employing people to work for you, being a good boss will help you get the most from your investment. 

This article outlines:

• Business leadership qualities
• Business leadership skills
• Business leadership examples

As well as some top tips on how to achieve solid business leadership - Five ways to be a better boss.

1. Show Genuine Interest

Employees can easily tell the difference between a boss who’s only concerned about what they can bring to the company, and one who’s genuinely interested in them as people too. Getting to know your employees and connecting with them on a personal level can help foster great working relationships, which in turn can lead to better:

• Productivity
• Loyalty
• Team results 

Trying to understand your employees’ worlds and priorities can help strengthen your bond with them, making it easier for you to get them to buy in to your cause. The best bosses don’t just see employees as people who work for them, but also as individual humans, with their own personal lives and commitments outside of work.

Know the people who work for you will enable you to offer them a great career experience that allows them a level of work-life balance they can enjoy. Employees with a flexible, accommodating boss who also allows them to easily get things done outside of work are more likely to be loyal to a company.

2. Provide Honest Feedback

The best bosses aren’t afraid of letting employees know how they are doing at work, even if that means being the bearer of bad news. The way in which you provide feedback to employees is key. Good bosses tend to provide even negative feedback in a kind, constructive manner which allows the employee to reflect and come up with improvements for the future.

Whether your employees are doing well or could do with some extra support, there’s no denying that people like to know how they are doing.

3. Never Stop Learning

The best bosses know that becoming a better leader is something to never stop striving toward. To be a better boss to your employees, it’s important to humble yourself and understand that there’s always going to be something that you can learn or improve.

Employees will have more respect for a boss who demonstrates that they are always open and eager to learning new things, whether that be through taking part in leadership training, or simply taking the time to talk to your team and learn more about what they want from you as a boss.

There are several leadership training options that you may want to explore which can help you significantly improve your leadership style and propel your team to success. Stay aware of the courses and opportunities that are available and make an investment that will be worthwhile in the long run for both you and your team. 

4. Work With The Right People

A big part of being the boss isn’t just managing the team, but also making sure that you are working with the right people in the right positions.

As a business owner and employer, you’ll likely be in charge of:

• The hiring process
• Reviewing resumes
• Conducting interviews

It’s important to make sure that the people you are working with are not only a good fit for your business, but also for working alongside yourself and other team members.

In order to work well together, you’ll need to choose employees who not only demonstrate passion and a strong work ethic, but also people who share the same outlook. Hire people who can really get behind your business to help it succeed in meeting both long-term and short-term goals.

5. Encourage Loyalty

Many bosses focus on encouraging productivity and motivation in the workplace, but forget about a massive long-term factor: employee loyalty. Workers who are loyal to your business will stick around longer, and become dependable members of the team who you can always rely on to have your back. It’s easy to encourage short-term motivation and productivity, but an employee who’s unhappy at work will likely leave at the first opportunity, no matter how good they are at their job.

One of the best ways to encourage loyalty amongst your team is to recognize employees for their work. This could be through small rewards and perks, or by picking up on which employees have the potential to go far and giving them a platform on which they can achieve their career goals. Employees working towards realistic promotions are more likely to be satisfied in work, stick around longer, and bring positive results to the company's bottom line.

Business Leadership And Management Success

Being a good boss isn’t just about effective communication when delegating tasks to others. You’ll need to build good relationships with your team and bring out the best in them.

One of our favorite business leadership quotes:

"Before you become a leader, success is all about growing yourself. After you become a leader, success is about growing others." ~ Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric