20 Signs You Are A Great Boss, Even If It Doesn’t Feel Like It

Leadership is more than giving orders. It’s about growing with the team

I spent 6 years in a military boarding school. Each year, the authorities used to select Prefects (Leaders) to lead 300 cadets. As you can imagine, those leaders used to come in and give us orders. They expected we’d follow them and we did it too. That’s how things were. Until the authorities chose Mahmud.

Mahmud was a lively guy who seemed like an unlikely pick for house leadership. He was lighthearted and always smiling. We were used to seeing tough & serious leaders and he was a surprising change. I was even more surprised when he called us to take our feedback. He wanted to know how the house could be run better and what could get us the championship. At the age of 14, I learned then how leadership was not about giving orders but working together. Needless to say that we won the house cup by a record-breaking margin that year. I like to believe that’s because of the 17-year-old house leader, who taught so much about leadership in just one year.

According to my experience, leadership is about getting the right people in and then making sure they have an environment & the motivation to do their best. I have worked with multiple leaders — some were as great as Mahmud. Some, despite having degrees from ivy league schools, were just horrible. Your education, career, or even success doesn’t define how good you’d be as a leader. But you can look out for the following signs to see if you are a great leader.

Sign 01: You make an effort to know your team members better

Most of us spend more time at work than we do tending to our personal needs. Office colleagues become the faces that we see the most. If you take the time out to get to know them better, you can make their days better. If you are doing this already, then you are on the right track.

Sign 02: You practice what you ask your teammates to do

A leader I knew used to give her team sales targets. When they’d achieve or get close, she used to illogically increase the target. I felt the problem was that she never did sell herself. So she didn’t know that every sale had a process, lead time, and not all factors moved at the same pace.

If you practice what you ask your teammates, your asks would likely reflect the challenges. It’d be realistic and your teammates would see you as a leader who can lead from the front.

Sign 03: You focus on the team

A very successful businessman once told me, business is not about investment but about human resources. I have also heard from many leaders how difficult it is to find good resources. I agree with all of that. I also believe if we focus on the team, the team can take you to places during truly bad times.

I once led a team that wasn’t getting paid for 3 months. One guy had to leave his home as he couldn’t pay rent. I fought with finance to get some of them paid. But even before that, as I spent time on developing them, they kept on giving more than their 100% at work. This is not to boast but to show how connecting with the team helped us all work for a better tomorrow.

Sign 04: You have good boundaries

Micheal Scott, from The Office, is the prime example of a leader without a sense of boundary. He meant well but he was way too involved in his team members’ affairs.

The act of getting to know the team and maintaining the boundary requires balance. It’s important to understand team members’ boundaries and not push beyond that.

Sign 05: You are a good listener

Listening is an excellent trait that’s not only important for leadership but many other aspects of life, e.g., relationships, learning. The idea is simple here. You want your team members to feel heard.

I made a friend during my INSEAD days. Hugo was (and still is) a highly successful professional with great personal qualities. He was a popular guy and everyone wanted to talk to him. And no matter how busy he was, he made time for them. Whenever I had a conversation with him, he actively listened to me. That made me felt valued. In those conversations, I did a lot of talking yet I remember them as great conversations. Listening has the power of elevating conversations and that is what great leaders should do.

Sign 06: You defend your teammates in public

Teammates are likely to make mistakes, fall short of targets, miss deadlines, or fail to deliver on expectations. It’s best to defend them in public and take responsibility for the situation. After all, as a leader, you are responsible for what goes out of your team.

This kind of protection helps employees take initiative. Especially new employees might not have the courage to defend themselves and they will benefit from this temporary cover.

Sign 07: You provide negative feedback in private

But that doesn’t mean you won’t talk about their mistakes ever. That’s a sign of weak leadership. A good leader must share improvement areas with teammates. That will only help them.

For that, the best practice is to give them feedback in private. Otherwise, they might become defensive due to pride. That’d totally defeat the purpose.

Sign o8: You use the sandwich method to provide feedback to teammates

For most employees, you should use the sandwich method to give feedback. It starts with one good feedback followed by the improvement area. The conversation is then ended with another positive feedback. This softens the blow and makes the employee more receptive to your feedback.

Sign 09: You say thank you to your team

At the same time, it’s important to remember that feedback is not only about negatives. If someone does a good job, they should be thanked for it. And it’s better if it’s done immediately.

I once worked for a week for a report. On some nights I worked till 1 A.M. My boss presented that to a group of stakeholders and it went well. My line manager’s supervisor contacted me immediately after that meeting to thank me. I didn’t expect that and it made me feel good about the work I put in.

Sign 10: You help your team get better

We are all on a lifelong learning journey. The more we learn, the better we get. It’s essential to create a learning path for team members. That has two-fold benefits. Firstly, they get better in a way that’d be beneficial for you. Secondly, they’d appreciate the guidance.

I have often been offered random training that just wasted my time. But I didn’t stop learning. Those learnings helped me propel my career but didn’t benefit the company I was initially in. I took opportunities elsewhere although the first company wanted to retain me. But I felt I grew beyond my previous work scope.

Sign 11: You coach your team members

It’s a good idea to create a culture of cooperation. Everyone has their weaknesses. Often it’s easier for others to see it. As a leader with experienced eyes, you should help others identify them and help them grow.

Coaching is a longer-term commitment. If you do this, it’s better to create schedules so that you give them enough time to grow.

Sign 12: You share the big picture with them

We all seek to have a purpose in life. Most of us try to find that through our work. If your team knows the company strategy and how their work helps in achieving that, they’d value their work more. They’d also feel more connected to the company goal.

Sign 13: You take their opinion on strategy and projects

While this may seem quite similar to listening, there’s one added element. You should take their opinion after you share the big picture and whenever there’s a new goal. They might be able to share ideas that’d make goal achievement easier. At the very least, they’ll feel included.

Sign 14: You try new things based on their opinions

Many of the opinions might have new ideas. Of course, anything new might seem challenging in the beginning. You might not even see merit in any of them. But to encourage them, it’s good to try out a few of them. Also, keep in mind that you don’t know everything.

One of my line managers hardly used to take our opinions. When he did, he used to criticize every idea. Obviously, ideas started drying up. His boss however was quite the opposite. He took ideas and just asked us to go with it. Some of those blossomed into great projects. Ultimately, my colleagues started going directly to the boss's boss. By not considering team members’ opinions, my boss lost his authority.

Sign 15: You try to create a friendly working environment

It’s better to create a free-flowing environment that’s comfortable and productive. Environment plays a strong role in productivity. You can design the environment with fun elements, access to food & caffeine, a place to work in isolation and together.

Apart from the physical space, you should be careful about sitting arrangements to manage sub-groups and departmental politics.

Sign 16: You explain yourself

Sometimes you’d make decisions by not consulting with all. It’s often good to explain yourself. It’s not necessary to do it every time. In weekly meetings, you can share how your activities are taking the company towards the bigger goals.

This practice will keep you on track as well. You can get distracted and focus on activities with low outputs. Discussing your activities with the team will help you see that too.

Sign 17: You are not a micromanager

Micromanagement is the worst. Micromanagers have an inflated sense of superiority that makes them believe that they know better than others. In most cases, it’s not true. Micromanagers don’t understand the concept of teams. They want to dictate everything and that reduces productivity.

If you are a micromanager then it’s game over. No matter what else you do you won’t be able to make up for it. Good thing is, very few of us are.

Sign 18: You are also not too hands-off

The opposite of micromanagement is being totally hands-off. It’s way better but employees may expect more involvement from you. You may have to hands-off due to new responsibilities. You may also believe that your team is good enough to carry it forward. But they’d appreciate regular check-ins. You can tone it down by holding regular meetings, and getting occasionally involved.

Sign 19: You provide space for personal growth and work

The ideal balance is where you get involved in the beginning, set checkpoints and KPIs, and let them do their magic. Your door will remain open so that they can come to you if they face any bottleneck.

They might make mistakes the first time. If those are not big enough you shouldn’t intervene much. That’d make them better at their work. The next time, you will need to be involved even less. You’ll be able to dedicate that time in new developments.

Sign 20: You reward effort and good performance

Lastly, you should reward effort and performance. These rewards can be promotions, raises, bonuses, dinners, pizza, awards, etc. Even a thank-you note or a box of chocolate will do wonders.

You also must be fair to everyone. There’s a saying that “Women get promoted based on performance. Men get promoted based on potential”. Behavior like this shouldn’t be practiced. Everyone should be treated equally.

These are the 20 signs that show you are a great leader! Now, it’s time to calculate, how many of these signs do you manifest?

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