“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.”  This quote, attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, gets to the heart of what can make a boss either well respected or disliked.  Are you a leader who inspires your staff to do well, or a boss whose very presence drags down staff morale?

A recent article in Inc. magazine by Jeff Haden delineated the 5 qualities that he feels make bosses remarkable. He states that remarkable bosses

1.Develop every employee

2.Deal with problems immediately

3.Rescue [their] worst employee, one who has fallen out of grace

4.Serve others, not [themselves]

5.Remember where they came from

Of these five, I think that the first two are the most essential. Make sure that each employee feels important and appreciated, and that anyone having a problem is not ignored.  These two goals are unfortunately often the hardest for us small business owners to cultivate, because we have so many other tasks to attend to.  And as a shop manager once remarked to me, no one made him feel appreciated — so it was hard for him to pass that feeling along to his staff.

But as Haden comments, “It’s your job to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities your employees need and deserve.”  Developing the skills of your employees and helping them achieve mutual goals will benefit both you and your  business in the long run.

In addition to providing guidance to your staff (and making sure that work gets done in a timely manner), your leadership style sets the tone in your business.  Good relationships among employees creates a pleasant environment, and this translates into good customer service.

I don’t believe that it is right to ask any employee to do something you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself.  Ideally as your business grows, you have performed most of the day-to-day tasks required at one time or another, and can pitch in to help with them if needed.

The show Undercover Boss recently featured the CEO of Yankee Candle, a major player in the gift industry.  I enjoyed seeing Harlan Kent’s disguise as a line worker (shown in the illustration that accompanies today’s blog), and was pleased to hear that even though his cover was blown, he found that his employees by and large are proud of where they work, and perform their duties exceptionally well.  Despite the size of this once-small company (they now have 1,600 employees), their boss is apparently a leader they respect, as are those who make up his management team. 

If Harlan Kent can achieve be a well-liked boss with so many employees, shouldn’t we be aspire to be as good a boss to those the smaller number of people we employ?

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder