10 Traits of a Good Boss

You see so much on all those bad bosses and compare your experiences with others. But how often do we talk about what makes up a good boss? Very rarely. How will a manager know that they are getting it right? How can we tell them what we want to see in a good boss?

Let's give them 10 ways that they can get a thumbs up from us.

1. Good Listener - You need to be a good listener to manager people. Only then can you truly assess your employees needs and meet them.
2. The Blame Stops Here -A good boss when confronted with a problem will not point fingers at one of their employees. They absorb the blame on themselves and the whole department. Finger pointing goes back to grade school. Problems could also show issues within the department which the manager should be taking responsbility for.
3. Gets Their Hands Dirty - When the boss can roll up their sleeves and help their employees when deadlines arise, they are a great boss. They truly understand that unless the job is done and done by all, they have not done their job.
4. Mentor - A good boss is one that becomes the mentor of their employees. This is a skill and trait that businesses are not looking for in managers, but all the good ones have. They grow and develop their team to be the best that they can be.
5. Communicate - Since communication skills are at an all-time low, a manager who can communicate is a gem. They keep their employees informed so that they are not caught unawares and the whole department look bad. This also goes to keeping in touch with each employees individually instead of waiting to their review time so that any issues can be addressed earlier.
6. Good morale - You can also tell who has the good boss, by the morale in the department. Not saying that they won't have their low times, but they will enjoy their job altogether.
7. Provides Resources - A good manager makes sure that their employees have the resources on hand to get their jobs done. There are times when the company does not provide those resources so the manager you want is one who tries to think outside that box and still manage to help the group get the job done.
8. Knows What's Going On - A manager should not be caught unawares of issues and even accomplishments in their department. If they are, then they are out of touch with them.
9. Recognizes Employees - A good boss regularly lets their employees know that they are appreciated and not just at the times of their yearly reviews. You'll lose good employees if you do that.
10. Understanding - A good boss is one that realizes that when emergencies come up in our personal lives that they should be more important than the job.

Unfortunantly, most of us would say that we have rarely had a manager that showed these traits. I've had a few and I've cherished them. They are the managers that we want to immitate.