Communication habits that exceptional bosses use daily
Effective communication is vital to your success. It becomes even more important when you are the boss, because the activities of your employees, and in turn the success of your company, ultimately depend upon you. Your communication should be clear, precise, and inspiring. Had Martin Luther King Jr given his ‘I have a dream’ speech with a tired voice and zero enthusiasm, none of us would remember it. Bad communication produces exceptionally bad results for your startup. This is why when there is a marketing strategy being developed, there is a lot of emphasis on how the communication about the product to a customer should be.
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Here are some ways in which you can be a superb communicator:
Great leaders shower praise
Various studies have been done on the effectiveness of praising as a tool to motivate your employees. None of the research concluded that praising an employee would lower their morale, reduce their enthusiasm to work, or have a bad impact on the innovativeness of the employees. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Good leaders appreciate the good work of their employees. A reward could be in the form of coupons, an email praising them for their work with all the other employees CCed too, paid holidays, etc. Even a simple mention on your company’s website would do a world of good to their confidence.
If you don’t take feedback from your employees and all other stakeholders involved, you would not have a medium to course correct to know if any mistakes need fixing. Your secretary might have a completely different take on a particular problem that you are facing which can solve it immediately. Always be open to people who are ready to help you out with a word of advice. It is not necessary to incorporate all of this. Take all advice with a pinch of salt; you are wise enough to know which ones are good for your company. And thank people for their feedback. If you were wrong at some instance, admit it and communicate effectively about your intent to work on it.
Great leaders are transparent
Exceptional people are always open about what they do. They feel that there is nothing to hide because they are proud of what they do. The happiest people are usually open about their feelings, and a happy boss should be transparent about communicating everything to their employees. If there was a botch up, then admit it. Do not be secretive about the happenings in the company unless necessary. The more you share, the employees are bound to trust you more because you share your knowledge generously. This will go a long way into building an amazing work culture as well as increase loyalty.
They care about their employees
This goes without saying. It is impossible not to genuinely care about an employee who has been working with you for a reasonable time. Even to a new employee who hasn’t served a lot of time, it is imperative that you need to show that you care. Privileges like providing cab facilities for female employees after 8 PM, taking them on monthly trips, weekly lunches, etc. will show that you care about your employees.
They possess a lot of common sense
There is nothing truer than the statement ‘Common sense is not so common’. Having a boss with sound technical knowledge is an added advantage, but if they aren’t street smart and don't possess the necessary skills to handle people, it will be tough. The ability to think on your feet and make decisions with a clear-cut narrative is what makes an exceptional boss.
If you are doing all of this, excellent. What are the other qualities do you think make an exceptional boss? Do let us know in the comments below.