BOSSHOLE

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R E S E A R C H F R O M G O O D B O S S , B A D B O S S

A P R E S E N T A T I O N B Y J A K E L A R A

Is Your Boss a

THE STATS

Having a Good Boss decreases your chances

of getting a heart attack.

Studies show “If you have a good boss, you have at least a 20% lower risk and if you stay with your boss for 4 years, you have a 39% lower risk.” -Anna Nyberg

THE BEST BOSSES…

• Don’t Crush the Bird• Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Team once said,

“I believe that managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly, you kill it, but if you hold

it too loosely, you lose it.” – Lasorda’s Law• Managers who are too assertive will damage

relationships with superiors, peers, and followers; but managers who are not assertive enough won’t press followers to achieve sufficiently tough goals.

THE BEST BOSSES…

• Grit Gets you There• Work is a marathon, not a sprint

Grit: Courage and Resolve; Strength of Character. –Dictionary.com

THE BEST BOSSES…

• Small Wins are the Path• Karl Weick, author of Small Wins,

When a challenge is too big, too complex, or too difficult, people freak out and freeze up.

People think and act more effectively when they face and can conquer more modest and controllable challenges.

THE BEST BOSSES…

• Beware the Toxic Tandem• Who do you suppose gets paid the most attention at meetings? • The Boss

• Closed communication limits idea generation.• Open communication fosters ideas and brings

team members together.

THE BEST BOSSES…

• Got Their Backs• Donovan Campbell led the “Joker One” Marine Platoon during some

of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war. His philosophy was to work with his team, not above it.

THE BEST BOSSES ARE WISE

Smart Bosses: Have the confidence to act on what they know, but feel and express little doubt about what they believe or do.

Wise Bosses: Have the confidence to act on what they know and the humility to doubt their knowledge.

Make definitive statements

Make statements that reveal uncertainty and confusion

Answer questions Ask questionsTalk well Listen wellGive help, but don’t ask for it; and refuse it when offered

Give help, ask for help, and accept it when offered

Defend and stick to current course of action – Have strong opinions that are strongly held

Challenge and often revise course of action – Have strong opinions that are weakly held

LINK TALK AND ACTIONThe “Smart-Talk Trap” happens when bosses and their people

know what needs to be done and keep talking about it, writing about it, studying it-yet all that blabbering becomes an end in itself rather than a stepping stone to action. (Sutton, 127)

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Don’t be a clueless blabbermouth-or let them

rule the roost• Just because they talk more doesn’t mean they know what

they are talking about. • Blabbermouth Theory of Leadership• Sometimes people that know the most are the least vocal

and pushy.• Ask everyone what they think.

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Understand the work you manage-or get out of the way

• Just because you have the biggest corner office doesn’t mean you know everything.

• A good boss will ask questions, defer those with greater expertise, listen, and above all-accept his or her own ignorance.

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Empathy for Customers• I once had a boss that didn’t give a crap about the

customers.• She got terrible editorials in the newspaper.• Know what your customers go through. • Is the process through the sale convenient?

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Be Repetitive and Concrete• Make sure your employees understand.

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Keep it Simple, Stupid

•Layman’s Terms

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Your own simple metrics & simple strategies

• Mount Everest wasn’t climbed in a day; nor was it climbed by only one person.

• Apple wasn’t built overnight and Steve Jobs didn’t do it alone.

• Google didn’t become a multi-billion $$ company with their first search engine prototype.

• They employ thousands of people today.

LINK TALK AND ACTION

Do It & You will Know• Google’s First Search Engine

CAUSES OF BOSSHOLES• Toxic tandem and power poisoning.• Extreme performance pressure.• Sleep deprivation, heat, and other bodily sources of bad

moods.• Nasty role models.• Asshole-infested workplace.

SOLUTION TO BOSSHOLES• Chances are it’s not them, it’s you.• Bosshole Bounty: $20 paid to those who let you know when you are being

a Jerk.• Apologize• Designate someone to teach you how to be a friendly butterfly. • If you have asshole clients, pay an asshole fee to those that deal with

them. • Hold meetings in nice places – they don’t all have to be in the conference

room.• Take your employees out for coffee• Word your emails wisely. I once had a boss that punished us over emails

that everyone was included in. How would you feel on the receiving end?

• Read Good Boss, Bad Boss by Robert Sutton.

THANK YOUJake From HR Email Mewww.JakeLara.comFacebookTwitterLinkedInInstagramUncaged iPhoneography Tumblr Page

WORK CITEDSutton, Robert I. Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best--

and Learn from the Worst. New York: Business Plus, 2010. Print.

Slide 13: www.german-business-etiquette.com Slide 16: www.Pakwired.com