The Boss

Today, it seems that no one wants to be the boss. In my 30 years of running our family business, I have not had the opportunity to work side by side with someone who could be the “the bossboss”. Oh yeah, I have had a few  who say they want to be but no one who had what it takes to be one. The main reason usually turns out to be the inability to tell people what to do. More often than not, no one wants to be what many employees perceive to be the “bad guy”. That’s it in a nutshell. You have to be the kind of person that doesn’t give a damn what their co workers think of them,( as long as you are fair and respectful). To often managers or bosses don’t want to be disliked so they wind up doing the job instead of delegating it and holding that person responsible to get it done.

The boss isn’t supposed to be your friend. Friendly yes, but friends absolutely not. There has to be a distinct separation between worker and boss and those lines should never be crossed. Hanging out with or taking interest in a workers life puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to having to direct that employee on what they need to do. You begin allowing your feelings to rule your decision making because you have now allowed emotion into the equation.

I am quite sure General Patton didn’t have many friends or men who liked him but they sure as hell respected him and followed where he led because they believed in what he stood for. His strong leadership didn’t come from hanging out with his soldiers, it came from his ability to separate himself from his troops in order to accomplish the task at hand. If he allowed his emotions and feelings to rule his decisions, we might be saluting the German flag right now.

Being a boss I learned something about hiring employees. There are what I believe, four things a good employee and perhaps future boss should have.

 1.Talent

 2.Strong character

 3.Passion about their work/life

 4.Desire and ability to learn

I have nothing to base this on but my own life and my experience with the people I have employed over the years, but I do know that without these four things, you do not have a chance at success in either work or more importantly life. I have never thought of myself as being perfect but have always strived for perfection in my work. Believing that if you don’t aim high you will always hit low, can be a curse for a boss. You tend to believe that everyone should think the same and that frustrates you to your wits end when employees constantly fall short. As a person, you can’t understand how anyone wouldn’t want the same things in life and feel deprived when you give it but don’t get it back.

Everyone wants to “be the boss” but few actually have what it takes. At the end of the day and perhaps my career, I know that I have led people on a long journey and did what I believed best for both my business and its employees. There are very few thank you’s along the way because most if not all of what you do for people is expected of you. Even so, being the boss and knowing that you gave people an opportunity to succeed in a safe, respectful environment, with a chance to earn a fair wage, makes what anyone might perceive of you, not matter all that much. Deep down inside you know you gave it everything it took to lead your troops on the road to success.

Just one mans opinion

The Regular Guy

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