THERE IS A HELL! - - - IT IS CALLED RETAIL LEAD, FOLLOW OR JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY! | Page 2

expand on, what to reject and avoid, and how to be as effective as possible in doing your
own work and in helping to successfully direct the efforts of others. What follows are some
thoughts on the characteristics of good bosses and what they can do to improve the lives of
their employees, and what bad bosses can look like and how they undermine the work of
their employees.

Leadership:

A good boss shows leadership by example,
and helps his/her employees learn about
leadership, whether that is leadership of a
subgroup, of a project, of a specific effort,
showing leadership in meetings, or any of a
wide variety of other leadership approaches.

A bad boss tends to ignore his/her
employees, except when they’re really
needed, and generally provides little in the
way of useful guidance or true leadership.
He/she also tends to use his/her employees as pawns to blame for problems for which the
bad boss is actually responsible.

Clear Expectations:

A good boss gives his/her employees clear expectations on what they’re expected to do, and
on how they can best accomplish it. He/she doesn’t do the job for them, doesn’t spoon feed
them every step of the way, and doesn’t think for them. He/she just lets them know what is
expected of them, and how they can best accomplish what is expected. If employees come
back with questions or concerns, a good boss answers and guides them, again, without
doing the work for them.
A bad boss typically gives vague descriptions of the job and avoids getting further involved,
often discouraging further interaction. This makes it easier for a bad boss to place blame.

Meaningful Objectives:

A good boss provides his/her employees with meaningful objectives, with goals and targets
to shoot for that capture the importance and value of the work they are about to pursue, and
that make their work understandable. Such goals and targets should be concrete, achievable,
and actually fun to shoot for. They should tie together the context of the work of multiple
people, bringing out competitiveness in a positive, enjoyable, and professional fashion, rather
than in dreary, repetitive, breaking rocks, just doing work for work’s sake kind of way
.
A bad boss gives his/her employees work assignments, but without specific or meaningful
objectives, goals, or targets to achieve. They are assigned work, but without context or
meaning, making it difficult for them to succeed, or effectively work together.

dodie ste®eo p®odu©tion ™

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