3 Lessons I Learned From One of My Best Bosses

 

Image Credit | Negative Space | Pexels

I first met Jamal on the job. Previously we had spoken over the phone when I had first interviewed for a position working in a retail store as a manager. I had worked in another store as a retail manager, but this was going to be a promotion for me. Jamal was different from what my previous bosses had been.  He was funny, warm, and took a personal interest. He also knew every bit of how to do my job, the job of my team, and wasn't afraid to demonstrate it.

I can't remember the first time I saw it happen, but I remember that it happened over and over again. Jamal would visit my store and walk directly up to my people and talk to them. He'd get to know what they were working on, how their sales were going, and how their personal lives were going. He'd ask follow-up questions and really take an interest in what they had to say.  The team loved it.

If a customer happened to be there, he'd be happy to greet them and get involved. Not afraid to talk to them about what they needed and how our products could make a difference to them. He was willing to take a customer from greeting all the way up through ringing them out if necessary, but he would usually hand them off partway to an available sales associate. He would also step in and help support the sales team on closing a sale, or reinforcing a point they were making.  The team loved this too.

What set Jamal apart from bosses I had had in the past, was not that he was nice or willing to talk to the team. I had had bosses like that before, but that he knew how to do every job in the store and was willing to demonstrate it. He was unafraid to stand side by side with an employee and do the same job. I had seen bosses that clearly didn't know the products or sales process and would shy away from talking to customers altogether. Jamal was just different.  Not only did the team love it but I loved it too.

I didn't immediately realize what I was learning by watching and working for Jamal, but he was teaching me several lessons about leadership and team building. I don't think that he was intentionally working to teach me these lessons, but they were a byproduct of the natural way he did things. Here are the top 3 lessons I learned from Jamal.

Roll Up Your Sleeves

You have to be willing to do the same job that you're asking your people to do if you want them to truly believe they can do it. In sales, it's easy to set a hard target and empower people to go get it. In fact, you should do that. What's important is to understand that the hard target is also a possible target. The best way to understand that is with first-hand knowledge and the only way you'll get that is by getting on the frontline with your team. 

I am not advocating for doing your team's job for you or micromanaging them. I strongly believe in allowing your team to independently discover solutions and processes that work for them. I am advocating for trying out different processes and procedures yourself. I believe that leaders should verify that what they are considering asking of others works and is possible.

Jamal knew his stuff and knew how to sell, but he also gained valuable insight into how well the team was able to sell and how well the products worked for the customers. By getting in the trenches with your teams you can understand what works and what doesn't work. You can see directly if an employee is working to their full potential or needs additional encouragement or training to be their best. You can understand if the great new product your company has launched will be a raging success, just another option in the sales process, or is doomed to be a flop. So take advantage of your opportunity to truly understand how the business works on the frontline. 

Get to Know Your Team

People are more than just their employee descriptions. They have lives outside of work and the best bosses learn about not just what their employees are good at on the job, but what they're doing outside of work. Jamal was a master at this as well.  He would come in and just chat with the team. Ask them how their weekend was going or what plans they had come up with. If they had been on vacation he'd ask them all about that too. He would truly get to know who they were as people and what motivated them. 

People want to feel valued and they want to feel that their company has their best interests at heart. When you take a personal interest in your people you teach them that they are valuable to you, not just as a resource to drive results, but also as an individual that you care about. When people feel that their boss cares about them they are more willing to go above and beyond to try to achieve results. They will be more excited by their successes and the failures will sting a little more because they didn't want to let them down.

Now, Jamal didn't become best friends with the staff and start going out for drinks after work. He maintained a distance between the staff and himself so as not to get too comfortable. Everything was kept professional and proper. I learned that you could get to truly know your team. You could have fun and be friendly without being friends. It makes work easier and more enjoyable when you can get along with the people you work for and with. 

Be Honest and Straight Forward

Jamal didn't mince words. He was honest and direct. If you asked him how your performance was he would tell you if it was good or he would tell you if it was bad. Sometimes hearing that your performance is bad can sting.  Earlier in my career and in my own experience, bad feedback can result in a confrontation between the manager and the employee. The employee is confused about the feedback or doesn't believe the boss has the credibility to make that kind of judgment on their performance. 

However, because Jamal had such a good relationship with myself and the team and had so much experience on the frontline it was natural to take his advice and believe him when he gave you feedback on your performance. If the performance was good, that's great! You'd seen him doing a great job as well, so you knew he knew what it looked like. If your performance was bad, you probably already knew it, but you also knew that he knew what right looked like, had seen you performing directly, and cared about you so, you took it to heart.

I was lucky to see this in action and was able to apply these lessons myself. Not long after taking that position, I was relocated to another badly underperforming store. The staff was happy and several were looking for new jobs. I applied these principles to that location as well. The team had not been treated in the best way before my arrival and was struggling with trust and belief in the company. I was lucky though. It turned out that the team had talent, even if they didn't realize it. By getting to know them and what made them happy, but seeing them in action and demonstrating things that worked well, and by being honest with them about what was working and what wasn't, we built a great relationship. 

Of all of the roles I've had in my career, I'm most proud of that one in particular. We started as a team that wasn't quite sure what to make of the other and weren't quite sure we wanted to be there. We ended as a team that was smashing sales records and truly cared about each other. I wouldn't have had the success I did without the lessons I had learned from Jamal.  Remember, that every day you are being taught lessons by those around you, whether they know it or not. If someone is doing something great, you're learning what works, if they're ruining things, you're learning what doesn't work. Take a note of what you're seeing and see how you can apply it to your own career. 

Have you ever had a great boss that taught you more than you realized at first? I want to hear about it! What did they teach you and how have you been able to apply it! Post below or contact me!