Building a Better Boss (pt.1) : Meaning

A boss is first and foremost a leader. Stop caring about what people say about the difference between leaders and managers. If you aren't a manager who leads you are failing at your job.

In this first of a series of articles on the building blocks of a better boss we will dive into the first block: Meaning. A boss must find a compelling meaning or purpose in the work they do to be effective. Without meaning there can be no motivation, and without motivation there is no leadership. Meaning therefore is at the core of great bosses.

Good Advice

I once had a job selling insurance. Credit card insurance. Over the phone. I am sure you can understand when I tell you I had a real hard time getting excited about going to work every day. Luckily, my manager helped me get over the hump. He sat me down one day and said,

"I'm just trying to pay the bills. Your just trying to pay the bills. Let's just get it done, and move on with our lives."

Needless to say, I got on with my life.....At another job. Thanks boss.

Answer the Burning Question

To be a great boss you need to understand, at your very core, why what you do is important. You have to follow the company value chain all the way to its core purpose and then build a compelling reason to believe around that purpose.

The purpose must be more than, "our doo-hickies make meta-doo-hickies operate at an industry leading frequency". If that's your company's core purpose find a stack of those employee handbooks. Head out to the parking lot. Burn said handbooks.

A core purpose should speak to what your company does that changes lives. Every company does something that changes lives, or they wouldn't be in business. Mine the meaning in your job; in your company.

Be an Evangelist

A boss who believes in the product, service, and core purpose of the company is able to be an evangelist to their team. An evangelist boss makes believers out of their teams. Believers are a powerful force because they are highly motivated by something bigger than a carrot or a stick.

When our leaders, and our teams, are motivated by meaning they are more productive, more effective, and companies are more competitive. Gallup estimates that these teams are 26% more productive than those who are indifferent to the impact of their work on the world.

Be warned of the boss who tells you, "we are all in it for the money", or, "you should just be happy to have a job". Bad bosses make people's lives meaningless and cost companies fathomless money everyday.

Banish the bad boss. You can do better.

Next week:

Better Boss Building Blocks: Turning lemons into lemonade.

The importance of solutions based teams.

Matthew T Welden,sphr is a Strategic Performance Consultant at Gryffin Consulting. He works with organizations of all sizes to improve hiring practices, drive company culture, and build strategy around people-based competitive advantage. He leads our Build a Better Boss initiative, a unique one-on-one training for new managers. He writes weekly on these subjects for Gryffin Insights. www.gryffinconsulting.com