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How To Create Less Confusion and Achieve Better Results as A Leader or Manager
I was speaking with one of my clients recently.
During our session we were speaking about difficult bosses.
It can be hard dealing with this type of individual.
You know the boss who you are never quite sure what they want.
Trouble is if you are the member of the team who deals with a boss like that there are a number of issues.
Firstly you spend time, energy and effort trying to figure out what the boss wants rather than getting on with delivering.
Secondly you worry that if you do something which turns out to be different to what the boss wanted that they will give you a hard time. When you have this situation or scenario you are going to take no chances.
Thirdly you can easily end up in the situation where because trust has broken down the boss goes into micromanaging mode. At this point the team is going to be completely disengaged and probably lose respect for you as their boss.
So what’s some simple ways to overcome this if you are manager or leader?
Be clear with your expectations. Rather than rushing ahead to get things down, stop, take stock and determine what you want.
Accept there will be situations where things don’t go to plan. Maybe you would rather they didn’t but in reality there are always going to be times when things don’t go as well as you had hoped.
Don’t give people a hard time for your lack of clarity. Before you start to blame or find fault take a moment to reflect on whether your expectations were clear enough. Remember the quality of the communication is determined by the message received not by the message sent.
Whatever you do don’t micromanage. People hate this more than most things. If you have set clear expectations and people don’t deliver that’s one thing. If on the other hand you haven’t set clear expectations and think micromanaging will sort everything you are sadly mistaken.
Duncan Brodie helps accountants and professionals to become effective leaders and managers
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.