Four Ways Bosses Add Value

There have been many times when I’ve witnessed an epiphany happen for bosses. It’s the moment they realize that having the answer is not the only way they add value. Too often, even experienced leaders believe that the most important part of their job is to have all the answers. Having the answer is only one way that bosses add value and, while it has short term benefit, over the long run these four actions can be even more valuable:

• Listening: One of the ways people grow is to be given the opportunity to think through situations and issues and to have someone who will listen to their ideas and potential solutions. Strong working relationships are forged when there is opportunity to speak knowing the other person will listen.

• Asking questions: Telling someone an answer gives them the benefit of your thinking and experience. Asking questions allows the individual to learn from your thinking and his own thinking. Effective questions are not those that are ‘gotcha’s’ or ones meant to show the other person how much you know. Effective questions help the individual think about problems and issues more broadly. They ask them to consider the ‘why?’ of a situation, the implications of taking a certain action, the perspective of others involved or the pros and cons of a certain course of action.

• Recognizing and reinforcing: Recent research shows that the average ratio of positive to negative feedback by high performing team is almost 6:1. For low performing teams, its about a 1:1 ratio. In the same research, for better than average performers, positive feedback raised performance for 62% of them by as much as 24%. Since most of a boss’ team is made of up these better than average performers, the value added by recognizing and reinforcing performance has an exponential impact on results.

• Visibility: There are two types of visibility. Boss’ add value when they give the people on their team visibility into what is going on in other parts and levels of the organization. Whether someone aspires to be ‘the boss’ one day or not, it’s important to know what others view as important, what’s valued, what’s not important or even career limiting. It’s also important to raise your team members’ visibility within the organization. You add value to their career and add value to your own by showcasing the great people you have hired and developed.

Next time you’re thinking that your main job is to give your team the answer, think about these other opportunities to add value. Are you adding as much value as you can?