Leaders Inspire, Bosses Demand
The following contribution is from Alyssa Miller who is a lifelong hacker and highly experienced security executive, with a passion for security that she champions to her fellow business leaders and industry audiences, both as a senior cybersecurity professional and through her presence in the security community. She combines a unique blend of technical and executive experience to bridge the gap that can often form between security professionals and business leaders. Her goal is to change the way we view the security of our interconnected lifestyle and put the spotlight on defending privacy and cultivating trust.
Alyssa has always had a compelling curiosity to understand how technology works and how existing technologies can be hacked to work in new ways. At the young age of 12, Alyssa began by taking a job delivering newspapers to save up enough money to buy her first computer. From the moment she brought that computer home from Best Buy, she has taught herself new skills and pushed the capabilities of digital technologies.
I remember a job interview I had a few years ago. It was for a leadership position and I was interviewing with the VP to whom I would report. What stood out to me in this interview was a question she asked me and the answer I gave her. Her seemingly simple question was «As a leader, what do you want to be known for?» My answer was equally simple: «I want to be inspiring.»
I remember this exchange in part because my answer took him by surprise.
He explained that he had asked this question to numerous candidates over many years, and that usually the answers were about some accomplishment they wanted to achieve, being liked, or driving some kind of success in the company.
All, in their own way, somewhat self-serving answers. He went on to tell me that what he found incredible about my answer was that it was not focused on me, but on my service to the people I manage. And it is that concept that, in my opinion, defines the difference between a boss and a leader.
Becoming a Leader
I have served in leadership roles for over ten years of my career. Long before I was given my first official manager title, I worked for several true leaders and several bosses.
They all taught me different things. Bosses helped me see how micromanagement, poor communication, and a lack of trust in employees can ruin an otherwise very enjoyable job.
Leaders taught me what it means to be a servant leader, to trust and empower those who work with you. Most importantly, those leaders showed me that inspiring a team creates an unstoppable force capable of overcoming any challenge. That’s the kind of leader I’ve always wanted to be and always tried to be. But how do you become an inspiring leader? Well, there are a few traits that I think are crucial.
Be Visionary
Each and every inspiring leader I’ve had shared one consistent characteristic: they all had a long-term vision.
Leaders need to be able to think big, to see in their minds how they want to transform the company in three to five years. Tactical thinking only gets you so far as a leader.
Sure, it’s necessary at times, but the people who work with you count on you to give them direction, a goal, something clear and tangible to strive for.
As a leader, you’re responsible for laying out that vision and the strategy to get there.
If you fail to provide this clarity, each of them will create their own vision in their minds and work towards their own individual and often contradictory goals. This breeds frustration and self-doubt, which are cancers on team morale.
Empower Your People
We see and hear a lot of talk about empowering employees, but I think few leaders truly understand what this means.
Empowerment is more than just giving team members a task to complete and trusting them to complete it.
True empowerment comes from your ability as a leader to recognize the potential in the people you work with, to see where they have the ability to grow and thrive if only they are given the opportunity to do so. Empowerment doesn’t come from waiting to see them demonstrate a skill before putting them in a role where that skill is needed.
People are truly empowered when their leaders recognize that they have the potential to develop a skill if they are put in a position that requires them to take advantage of it.
This concept, by the way, is also key when we talk about companies investing in their people and promoting from within.
Investment is more than just training and money spent on employee development. The real investment companies make in their employees is taking a risk with them.
Put them in those proverbial sink-or-swim positions, provide them with training and support, and give them the opportunity to show what they can accomplish. Those are the most rewarding moments for employees and the most valuable for organizations that really want to invest in their people.
Be humble and give credit
I think we’ve all had at some point in our careers that boss who made it clear that their ego was in charge. That boss who gets offended or downright angry when an employee asks for a higher-level meeting with the boss’s direct manager or a superior.
The kind of boss who feels threatened by the great successes of the high performers you work with. Don’t be that boss.
To be an inspiring leader, you have to put that ego aside and accept that you actually want people working with you who are smarter, more skilled, or have a wealth of experience that you’ll never have. That’s why you hire them! You are there to serve them, to make sure they have the tools to succeed, to mentor them when they falter, and to remove obstacles from their path so they can accomplish great things.
Along with this goes the ability to celebrate their successes and give credit where credit is due
I have had bosses who took good ideas from others and presented them to others as if they were their own. Bosses who never give their people visibility at the upper levels of management, never allow them to come before senior or executive management to present their ideas.
It is a mistake on many levels and it is destructive
It causes team members to stop sharing their ideas or look for ways to circumvent their manager. Neither of those things are going to enable success for the individual or the team.
So make it big, make it public, and make it very visible when your team members accomplish something impressive.
Let them know and let the entire team know that you are aware and value their contributions.
Let them know that you are their biggest fan. This goes a long way in building trust.
Oh Captain, My Captain
A few years ago, I wrote my first LinkedIn article. The story of a gentleman I worked with who, on my last day as his manager before leaving the company, sent a reply to my farewell email that simply contained that quote from “Dead Poets Society.” In the movie, at the end, when Robin Williams’ character leaves the school permanently, his students stood at their desks and each repeated that phrase “Oh Captain, My Captain.”
It was clear in the movie that this was their way of thanking him for inspiring them and I interpreted it to mean the same thing coming from this consultant I had worked with for a few years.
It was truly the greatest compliment I have ever received from anyone I worked with. My sincere goal, as a coworker, as a leader, as a professional in this wonderful cybersecurity community, is to be inspirational.
Knowing that just being who I am has helped encourage another person or shaped their own path in some way means more to me than any monetary compensation or recognition I may receive.
In my opinion, that is the mark of a true leader.
With this I wish to close simply with a challenge to you, my readers: Be inspirational!
The Extraordinary Impact of a Good Boss
The following contribution is from Vantage Leadership Consulting. Since 1976, Vantage has been an expert global partner in developing your exceptional leadership talent. Our team of experienced consulting psychologists offer you comprehensive solutions, from executive assessments and succession planning to leadership development, coaching and optimizing high-performance teams. We work closely with your organization to ensure you have the right leaders with the right skills to execute your strategies and gain competitive advantage.
The author is Duncan Ferguson who joined Vantage in 2013 as General Manager of Client Services. Duncan brings to Vantage extensive corporate HR experience and has developed a keen interest and contemporary perspective on the changing relationship between companies and their employees. To that end, Duncan has conducted extensive research on what it means to be a «better boss» and how this impacts organizational leadership, engagement, performance and retention.
A few years ago, I was having lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen since landing his new position two years earlier.
As we ate our salads, I asked him how he liked his job. Half expecting him to share some level of unhappiness, I was pleasantly surprised when he told me how much he loved his new job.
I’ve found, after years in the HR profession, that it’s a rare time when someone has told me how much they love their job.
It turns out the reason for his satisfaction was his immediate manager, whom my friend described as the «best boss» of his 20-year career. Intrigued, I asked him to tell me more. His answer:
“I have autonomy and freedom to do my job. I have the authority to make decisions on virtually all matters that affect me and my team. My boss keeps me informed about organizational developments that could affect me. He sets high expectations. “He gives me timely, constructive feedback when needed and recognition when warranted. He always has my back in a company that is very political, especially for a newcomer like me. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s clear that he cares about me as a person, not just as an employee.”
Wow! Who wouldn’t want to work for someone like that?
It made me wonder if other people had a better boss in their lives.
The Best Boss Study
Driven by this curiosity, I and my Lead Well LLC partners, Dr. Toni Pristo and Dr. John Furcon, decided to study the best boss experience.
We invited people to answer seven open-ended questions meant to tell us how their best boss had impacted their performance, career, and life.
While many of our nearly 60 participants worked in a corporate setting, we also received feedback from people with experience in the public sector, healthcare, education, and small business. Many people enjoyed recounting their experience with the best boss so much that they forwarded the survey to their friends.
More than a few people were inspired to reach out personally to thank their own best boss. Clearly we were on to something. (If you’d like to take the survey yourself, click here.)
Once the survey was complete, we analyzed each response
Our first discovery was a set of “Best Boss characteristics” that served as a catalyst for a strong relationship between the individual and their manager.
This relationship could be one-dimensional or multidimensional (e.g., collegial, personal, mentoring, etc.) and was always built on a solid foundation of personal characteristics such as humility, integrity, humor, trust, thoughtfulness, fairness, intelligence, and optimism.
While these characteristics varied from boss to boss, the one consistent trait among all of the Best Bosses was, perhaps not surprisingly, respect.
Our analysis identified five behavioral traits that were repeatedly highlighted by our respondents
These traits are described below:
Leads from a higher purpose: The Best Boss has a purpose beyond self-interest or personal gain that is put into action on behalf of the individual.
Activates potential: The Best Boss observes, values, and takes action to activate the individual’s present capacity and future potential.
Grants autonomy: The best boss imparts knowledge, business acumen, big picture vision, and establishes an autonomous space for the individual to perform.
Continuous and widespread feedback: The best boss consistently uses frequent and diverse feedback to constructively shape, reinforce, and/or modify behavior.
Encourages risk-taking to drive learning: The best boss encourages reasonable risk-taking to ensure learning, while recognizing that mistakes are a natural part of the growth process.
The best boss system
While these themes were interesting, they were not groundbreaking findings to unlock the secrets of great people leadership.
But when we looked deeper into our data, we saw a couple of things that really stood out to us.
First, it was apparent that our five behavioral traits did not operate independently, but were actually part of an integrated “best boss system” that worked holistically to motivate others.
It was clear that the best bosses have a mission in life to help people reach their potential. But they also understood that this leadership approach was just the starting point.
They instinctively knew that potential cannot be fully activated without simultaneously developing skills, setting clear expectations, providing constructive feedback, creating an autonomous space to operate, and encouraging risk-taking without fear of retaliation.
This system created a powerful organizational impact by generating employee engagement, retaining top talent, and driving superior performance.
Powerful Stories
The other compelling part of our Best Boss study was, quite simply, the personal stories that people shared with us.
These were powerful, emotional stories that transcended far beyond the job. It was obvious that our Best Bosses leave an indelibly positive impact on us—not just as employees but as people.
Take a look at some of these quotes from respondents and I’m sure you’ll feel the same energy we felt when reading their stories:
– “(My Best Boss) made me believe that you can lead with heart and wisdom, that competence and firmness don’t have to be at odds with compassion and integrity.”
– “He did all kinds of things to get me out of my comfort zone – he pushed me and even provoked me at times. He saw potential, but he also saw that I was holding something back and not accepting that I was giving everything I had to give.”
– “I felt like I could take risks and push myself. I was never afraid to make mistakes and I could work differently and try new things.”
– “When I was faced with a difficult decision, his first question was always, “What’s the right thing to do?”
– “The best boss ever… cared about everyone in his department. He was extremely competent and most of the important people above him trusted him. But it really came down to giving you clear direction and within that, complete autonomy. He didn’t let his direct reports get away from you, he stood up for you to peers and other departments, and if he didn’t agree with you, he dealt with you privately and let you work things out. He had an open door and always made you feel welcome when you came in to talk to a senior.”
– “Thank you! You made me a better person… not just a better leader. You made me learn how much more people can do when they feel supported and appreciated. Much more importantly, you made me a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend by sharing your infectious love of life. You taught me to take risks, celebrate success, and appreciate that if I’m not making mistakes, I’m not challenging myself enough.”
Conclusion
Logically, this is where I should conclude by sharing insights into the traits of the Best Boss and how they impact leadership and organizational performance.
After all, that’s what you expect from an article on leadership, right? And from improving individual performance, engagement, and retention, there are many things that Best Bosses do to drive organizational success.
93% of our respondents said their individual performance stood out.
82% made statements that indicated a high level of engagement.
77% said their Best Boss had a positive impact on both their development and career.
If you are a leader or have the responsibility to drive leadership behavior in your company, these numbers should at least give you pause.
At most, they should inspire you to incorporate these traits more into your personal leadership style and your organization’s leadership capability.
But if we were to focus solely on the impact on the organization, we would be leaving out perhaps the most compelling element of the Best Boss experience, which is the spark that is created between two people and how lives are changed as
