A few weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled Why Your Boss Thinks Your Idea Sucks.Lots of people read it. One of my subscribers said her issue was different. Her employee thought HER ideas sucked! She asked if I could address the issue. So I will.
When employees don’t respect their boss, there is one reason only. It’s because they have no respect for their boss. First let’s define respect. Respect means you’re being taken seriously. Yesterday I let my 18-year-old son run the chain saw as we cut up some tree limbs. He was afraid, but I told him to not fear the chain saw, just respect it. Take it seriously. Know it will make your life easier, but if you’re not careful with it, it could end your life. When an employee has no respect for their boss, it means they don’t take them seriously. When they don’t take the boss seriously, then anything and everything the boss says or does goes from legitimate to comedic. It’s sad and I’ve seen it happen.
How can a boss prevent employees from losing respect for them? Here are five ways:
- Know what you’re talking about. Nothing worse than working for a boss that’s dumber than you and yet professes to know it all. If you’re going to be the boss, know your stuff.
- Build rapport with your people. Get to know them on a more personal level so that they know you genuinely care about them. If you don’t genuinely care about them, find another job. You don’t have to love your employees, but you do need to treat them like human beings.
- Learn how to think strategically. If you ask your employees to do something, make sure you’ve thought it through. What is the end result you want? What are the potential pitfalls? What’s your Plan B if Plan A doesn’t work.
- Control your emotions. Some bosses are screamers. That’s unacceptable. Keep cool. Some bosses are a bunch of wusses. They are afraid to confront poor performers. They don’t want to come off like the bad guy. There is a healthy balance between screamer and wuss. Find it and embrace it.
- Don’t treat your people like imbeciles. That could be real or perceived. Either way it can affect your credibility. Some highly intelligent folks need to feel smarter than the boss or at least acknowledged for their intellect. There’s nothing wrong with this, but you need to consider it. Have an honest conversation with this employee about it but remind them that you ARE actually the boss and it’s your job to delegate and evaluate the work. Sometimes it’s real. I worked with a guy once that said a boss he had referred to the employees as “bodies” as in “I need two bodies on that process over there.” Don’t do this.
So that’s the list. I’m sure there’s more. If you can think of any, be sure to suggest them in the comment box below. If you’re a boss, implement the steps. If you’re an employee who has a moron boss, forward this link to them. If you want to be the boss someday, begin learning this now.
