The document outlines 10 key characteristics of a good boss: 1) trusts employees, 2) is accountable, 3) has a clear vision, 4) applies emotional intelligence, 5) is punctual and disciplined, 6) cares for employees, 7) is competent, 8) inspires through their own work, 9) is honest and trustworthy, and 10) supports learning and development. A good boss empowers employees, takes responsibility for mistakes, provides direction while allowing independence, and leads by example through their own continuous learning and training.

1. 10 Characters of a Good Boss
P. K. Mitra
Eurodrug Laboratories- India

2. We all have come across ‘Boss’ or Bosses in our professional
career and they really make difference by their characters !
• There are certain characters, which
differentiates a Leader from a typical
boss !
• In a challenging environment when
an organization wants to deliver
performance, the onus is on the
Leader /Boss !!
• Great Bosses like, Steve Jobs, Warren
Buffet, K. Anji Reddy, Lee Scott,
William Colgate became Leaders with
their characters !

3. A recent survey by SHL of New Zealand and
Australian organizations found that being able to
give feedback and recognition for individual
achievement was the most desired attribute of a
boss• One of my colleagues say: He is 25
years old in his professional career &
saw many bosses but yet to see a true
leader.
• His boss always used to warn that
nobody in the office should come late
but he was never been there on time !
• He never liked people to talk loud in
the office but he did not spend a
single day without shouting in the
office !

4. Great sayings on Leadership:
• “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the
right things.” - Peter F. Drucker
• "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
—John F. Kennedy
• “A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees
farther than others see, and who sees before others see.”
- Leroy Eimes
Let us see the 10 characters of a Good Boss as summarized by
different authors in different times & in different books ……..

5. 1. HE TRUSTS HIS/HER EMPLOYEES
• Train employees to handle a task, allow them to handle it
without interference and inhibition, delegates with
confidence & complete trust, evaluates performance solely
based on merits & diligence.
• Correct them wherever required and allow them to exercise
their own methods, allow them to work independently and
review once they finish to give them better ways to score in
future.
• Knows efficiency can be the enemy of efficacy in the long run
& create an atmosphere of expansive thinking, empower the
team with time, resources and techniques, to solve big issues
with big ideas instead of make-shift ideas.

6. 2. HE IS ACCOUNTABLE & RESPONSIBLE
• He takes accountability of decisions when things go wrong
instead of shrugging his shoulder.
• He is always positive, normal and practical to review the
reasons and preview the solutions to correct the situations.
• He is apolitical & impartial in his decision while approaching
the target objectivity and unbiased with regard to gender.
• Practices cross-feedback mechanism to improve further self
and team’s performance in any given situation.

7. 3. HE HAS CLEAR VISION & DIRECTION
• Provides clear vision and clearly defines directions to get the
objective accomplished on time without micromanaging.
• Firm on objectives & expectations of the organization from his
employees but with human touch and not being arrogant !
• Makes sure the team members know the desired outcomes
and deadlines, practices ethical, equipped with the resources.
• Intelligent, honest and concise in approach to understand the
pulse of the people around, situations and respond
accordingly rather than react.

8. 4. APPLIES EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
• He never brings home or personal arguments to office neither
takes office tensions to back home, always aware of what his
employees are feeling and thinking, can inspire & create
resiliency among the team effectively.
• Creates competitive, conducive brainstorming environment
where people are feeling open, upbeat, and expansive.
• Integrates creativity into daily conversation and procedures so
that every employee feels natural about being creative and
facilitating productive creativity when interacting with others
in the company/organization.

9. 5. PUNCTUAL & DISCIPLINED
• Firmly believes that punctuality & discipline are more for him
than his employees and sets an example by strict adherence !
• The strength of integrity & promise is always reflected from his
commitment and he treats commitment as a character !
• He never alters his promise or deviates from it even though he
incurs loss in the proposition but he stands to his commitment.
• Make sure that everyone in the team understands the
difference between a valuable meeting and a waste of time
and resources.

10. 6 . CARES FOR HIS PEOPLE
• He acts like a teacher, philosopher, guide, and friend to
improve his employees both professionally & personally.
• Appreciates his employees in public for good job done and
reprimands them in private to improve their skills & odds.
• Looks at the mistakes of his people as opportunity to improve
their skills & knowledge further, makes them feel stronger.
• Empathizes with his employees, stands by them in every
adversities and groom them to become successful in life, never
minds people leaving him for a better opportunity.

11. 7. HE IS COMPETENT
• He is competent enough in his domain of operation to
handle, guide his team to achieve the objective successfully.
• Never takes the credit of performance alone and always puts
his people first for any kind of recognition, positive in attitude.
• Aware of strengths & weaknesses of his
employees, team, strengthens the strengths and manages with
the weaknesses.
• Never bothered for an unexpected outcome or situation, he
knows how to handle it, has solutions for every issue ! Never
asks his people to bring solutions, leads with the solutions to
provide enough courage & confidence to them.

12. 8. HE INSPIRES BY HIS WORK
• He never asks his people to initiate the work or give idea and
then finger in the work to prove or hijack it on his name.
• Always introduces his team or employees with pride to the
world and never underestimates anyone or belittle them.
• Motivates people with outside-the-box thinking, makes them
feel that everyone is a part of pioneering projects and equally
valuable and at the same time no one is indispensable !
• Make sure everyone of his team also lead a good personal
life, energizes amply to effectively balance between personal
& professional life.

13. 9. HE IS HONEST & TRUSTWORTHY
• Honest & transparent in his communications, embraces an
open dialogue with his employees, delegates meaningfully, has
fired himself from his prior-to-promotion job, admits mistakes
and seek suggestions from his team/employees.
• Don’t indulge in malpractices to garner extra profits for him
turning down the basic interests of the organization, shares
information with all his employees, never play hide & seek.
• Creates an environment where people are empowered to
make change on their own to improve product, process, and
procedures to integrate open communication to achieve the
highest levels of team performance.

14. 10. LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
• Continuously train, educate & develop his people so as to
keep them abreast with the current trends of the business,
appreciates people who want to extra responsibilities and
never feel short to a performer better than him in the trade.
• Empowers people, recognize performance with reward and
undergoes lot of training & development program by himself.
• Shows the team that training is required for everybody,
including him, integrate individual learning and development
into every job description so that personal growth is required
and rewarded.

15. Who is the Boss ?