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COLUMN

Boss matters

MAMUN RASHID
I asked Patricia Butenis what prompted her to leave the US ambassador job in Bangladesh all of a sudden to take up the post of a deputy chief of the mission in trouble-torn Iraq.
The reply was: She was not taking a lower and fiercely challenging job in Baghdad (where she had to live many months in a caravan without many usual facilities), she was joining ambassador Ryan Crocker, her former boss and mentor. If you ask someone what makes employees happy at work, many are likely to think in terms of tangible rewards: a good salary, a pleasant office, generous benefits. However, workplace specialists are increasingly discovering that for many workers, the "happiness factor" depends heavily on intangibles, such as respect, care, trust, and fairness.
It is in fact the small things that make employees feel committed to an organisation. Workplace happiness often depends on two components: the institution and its culture or the boss. A boss may often be considered an institution by himself, one who sets the corporate culture, creates a positive and a dynamic working environment, sets high standards and ultimately gets people engaged in work. It may happen that you are happy in your work but not happy in a specific environment due to a variety of factors such as a bad boss, a bad corporate culture, or a colleague who makes your life miserable. People have different opinions of what brings them happiness and satisfaction on the job but certain priorities remains constant in terms of what employees say makes them happy.
A great boss stirs their staff by elevating, applauding, and lauding the effort they put in to their work every day. It should be an everyday occurrence that a great boss makes people believe in themselves and feel special and
engaged in work. No matter what type of figure you want to be, your role as a franchise boss boils down to two basic areas: directing people and serving them.
Bosses indeed play a key role in determining a worker's happiness factor. More than half of employees responding to an annual jobsatisfaction survey admit that they do not leave companies, they leave bosses. This leads to a question, when workers accept employments, do they only join institutions or do they look at the leaders too?
It is surely not so easy to be a good boss, since you have to be fully present and responsive to the complexities of each new situation and manage a diverse group of people, including your employees. As an employee, we have all had the opportunity to work for individuals who have affected our professional careers profoundly. They have taught us and guided us through phases of our careers, which have assisted us to reach where we are today.
From them we have learned professionalism, discretion, finesse and impartiality. And as we became bosses ourselves, we have developed our own management style, which in turn shapes the careers of our own subordinates or employees.
Some of us use an autocratic style of management and others democratic. And each style has its own merits. But what is considered a good boss? Charles Erwin Wilson, an American businessman and politician, once said: "A good boss makes his men realise they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could."
There is also a great difference between a good leader and a good boss. Leadership is simply too complex to do perfectly. The key to being a better boss lies in accept-
in&,that fact. A good boss is both a 'real' person and trustworthy. Someone who "walks the talk" and earns respect for their good character and the example they set.
It is also having the passion for the people who work with as you do for your own family -- get to know them, their kids, spouses, friends, hobbies, interests, upcoming vacations - remember that everyone loves it when others are interested in them - - especially the boss. Your internal relationships are as equally important as the ones you have with your customers. A lot of people forget this too often.
A listening boss and one who is committed to employees' personal growth can also create a big difference. Although everyone else's opinion cannot be implemented, if they feel heard, it makes
a big difference. Everyone likes the boss who is open to change and personal growth.
In times of uncertainty and unfamiliarity, our employees look to us for reassurance and security. In such times wc as bosses need to function in an orderly and purposeful manner. We also need to embrace the fact that we encounter many obstacles, and these hurdles allow us to understand, listen, give clear instructions, invite negative feedback, and protect those wc lead. It is also our responsibility to ensure that the same mistake does not happen in future.
As bosses, we need to be infectiously enthusiastic and proud of the work we do and be a constant source of new ideas and inspiration. We must be able to inspire our subordinates to rise to a new
level of proficiency to reach their goals, so we can reach ours. Though, we may ail have higher or greater responsibilities than our employees, we as bosses need to work with our team to reach the ultimate goal or vision. The boss who is well-respected will be prepared to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.
We have all reached a stage in our lives and careers when we know that second best does not lead to success. It is our responsibility to set and maintain high standards for ourselves as well as our colleagues, while carefully raising the bar to achieve continuous improvement in all areas of our business.
Mamun Rashid, a banker and economic analyst, can be reached at mamun1960@gmail.com