5 Boss Behaviors To Grow Into

The Greatest Gift of Leadership is a Boss Who Wants You To Be Successful - Jon Taffer

A truly great boss is hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget. You’ve heard it before - people don’t leave jobs or their companies, they leave their bosses. This holds true as I think about the bosses I’ve had and as I reflect on the type of boss that I aspire to be.

Research has shown that there are a number of key leadership behaviors that bosses or managers can learn and develop. These behaviors are grounded in managing social-emotional reactions to our surroundings. By cultivating these behaviors, leaders can build a team that is accountable, trusting, resilient, proactive, and passionate about their work and the company’s mission.

Here are the 5 leadership behaviors that can have an impact on your team’s productivity and engagement:

• Compassion

  • Compassionate leadership means showing genuine interest in team members’ success and well-being. This leadership behavior establishes a commitment to understanding, but not necessarily agreeing. It is also a more objective form of empathy. Unlike empathy, compassion creates emotional distance so that the leader can make sound and proactive decisions on the team member’s behalf. This behavior will ultimately lead to more trust and loyalty from team members.

• Effective Listening

  • Listening can be more empowering than speaking. Effective communication skills are key to building trust with teammates and getting them to buy into your vision. Effective listening is a combination of both verbal and non-verbal communication skills that can be learned and practiced over time.

• Embracing Change

  • Great leaders are able to quickly change course and help their team evolve with the organization’s needs. These people enjoy the process of continually striving for improvement and pushing their teams to the next level. They also are not afraid to fail as they realize that mistakes are mere opportunities to better themselves.

• Embracing a Coaching Mindset

  Great leaders produce other great leaders through coaching. As a coach you are able to see each individual’s development and growth. Great leaders are able to tie people’s individual development to organizational objectives which increases accountability, improves retention, and develops stronger leaders within their teams.

• Cultivating an Inspiring Vision

  • Effective leaders prioritize the creation of an inspiring work environment which propels their teams to see beyond their perceived limitations and step up to new challenges. Motivational leaders have a keen understanding of how to create a strong sense of community and belonging within their organizations. They regularly celebrate and reward achievements, and sets the standard for performance. As a result, their teams tend to see lower turnover, increased productivity, and elevated levels of motivation.

Great leaders are skilled communicators that tend to be humble, compassionate, and transparent. Some are born with innate talents and a set of behaviors that make them particularly suited for greatness. However, many leadership behaviors can be learned, developed, and practiced over time.

Now, do you think you have what it takes to be a great Boss or Leader? Thought so, Let’s Do This!

A version of this article can be found at BetterUp.