My Best and Worst Quality as a Boss

The other day, I was listening to a podcast interview with Jenna Kutcher and Ed Mylett, and she was talking about how she is unemotional in business. As a woman, that sounds like a strange quality to admit, but I have to agree that I relate to her. It’s not that things don’t hurt my feelings at work - bad reviews, disgruntled staff, and a lack of work ethic definitely grind my gears more than I’d like to admit, but I have a pretty level head when it comes to shaking off the unimportant moments to move forward. But, their conversation got me thinking about what my best and worst quality as a boss might be.

Honestly, my staff would be the best group to answer this because they are the only ones who have to work with me on a daily basis. But, I think that my best and worst quality is actually one in the same, as it is for most of us. Our greatest strength can always become our biggest stumbling block, if we’re not careful. So here’s mine - I’m great at setting realistic expectations for my staff, despite my need for perfection. The downfall? I’m the only one who doesn’t adhere to them.

There are a lot of things I think I’m good at when it comes to running a business. I’m a great communicator, I’m highly organized, I’m great at selling what I love, and authentic community is my jam. I’m not perfect at any of these, but I recognize them as strengths. However, the reason that I chose the statement above about realistic expectations is because it is one of the toughest things for me to do well, and I force myself to do it on a regular basis.

As a perfectionist, it would be so easy to run through my day thinking, “They didn’t do that right. They didn’t say that right. That class needs to improve because of xyz,” and so on, and so forth. But, when it comes to giving feedback, I really try to give it from a place of understanding and a realistic view of what can be done. If I’m not doing this well and get feedback that I’m expecting too much or pushing too hard, I try to pick up the extra slack and make the adjustment quickly because I don’t want anyone on my staff to burn out because of my over-zealous expectations. I set deadlines far in advance, I aim to give everyone a manageable schedule, and I’m open to the conversation when things aren’t working well.

Here’s how it backfires. When things aren’t going well, I don’t place blame on others, it all comes back to me. I should have stewarded my responsibility better, been more on top of things, or anticipated the issue before it happened. While this doesn’t make me an outwardly negative human at work, it doesn’t do much for my mindset, my home life, or my ability to redirect my thoughts for an upcoming challenge. Everyone else gets a pass, while I often remain stuck. In turn, I stop leading from a place of health, and then other things get dropped because of my internal distractions.

When I’m stuck on a higher-level business issue, one that I feel that I should have been able to fix or need to fix, little details start to feel less important. We’re in a much better place this year because I have a killer staff who I have delegated some of these responsibilities to, which means that the ball doesn’t get dropped as often. It took me years to realize I was doing this, and trust me when I say that your business does not deserve to suffer because of a personal hindrance that you haven’t worked through.

In order to be the best boss you can be, you have to know where you are hurting your business. Personally, I know that I hurt my business the most when I get stuck on my own perceived failures and don’t execute (or allow other people on my team) to execute the next best steps. My perfectionism is an asset, but only when I use it to encourage and inspire, rather than belittle and drag down.

Regardless of your role in your current business, I would encourage you to figure out your best/worst quality and take the time to determine out what you need to do to make it an asset on a regular basis.