There was a recent study that showed that two Walgreens stores had completely different success metrics and employee retention even though they were close to each other, had the same clientele, had the same layout, etc. What was the one difference between the two stores? The satisfaction of the employees with their boss—it changed everything. If you supervise anyone, there are times that you must wonder, Am I a bad boss? As a godly leader, your goal is to be a great, godly boss. You know that is essential if you want to be a good example of loving Jesus. If you’ve ever wondered about that, you’ve come to the right place.
Here are five ways to protect against being a bad boss.
Make Sure Your Employees Feel Thanked
Leadership guru Carey Nieuhoff says that “if you appreciate them more, they’ll appreciate you more.” The sad reality is that poor leaders are not good at saying thank you. You can protect against that if you cheer your employees on—high fives, head butts (actually maybe not that, I got too much into jock mode there), thank you notes, unexpected small gifts, a quick text, or an email after a big or long day. Get creative. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, just consistent.
Over my years in ministry, I have had some incredible bosses and some that could have used some additional coaching and training in this area. When I found myself in a season with an incredible boss, I realized that I felt the gratitude that was necessary to fill my tank and press forward in good times and bad. Gratitude is often the fuel that drives life.
On the flip side of the coin, when I found myself in a season with a boss that was not great about passing along gratitude, I could really find myself in a bad spot—wondering if I was good enough, turning bitter at times feeling that my hard work was not recognized, and even feeling resentful over certain seasons or projects. I have always known that Colossians 3:17 says that we are to do all of our work for the glory of God, but my human nature just kicks in way too often.
I want to pass along a Pro Tip for anyone that finds themselves in a season like that—a gratitude file. I have a large hanging green file full of notes, emails, cards, etc that I received over the years from bosses, friends and strangers that have expressed gratitude for my work and ministry. When I find myself in a darker spot, I pull that file out and start reading and it really fills back up my gratitude tank. I realize once again that my work and ministry does matter.
Our experiences shape who we are and the same is true in this realm. Our experiences as employees with good and not so good bosses shapes who we are as bosses. Make sure that you learn and apply what you have experienced and learned. Be known as a great boss that expresses a large quantity of authentic, heart-felt appreciation! If you do so, a bad boss label is highly unlikely to ever come your way. Godly bosses know that we have a lot to be thankful for, and a good employee is high on that gratitude list!
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
It Can’t Be All About You
Ephesians 4:11-12 says that our job as pastors is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. That’s a directive. The principle is that whatever the job, it is essential that we equip people for the work and not just make it ours to do. Humility is everywhere in Scripture as an essential goal of the godly boss, while the warning of pride and its downfall is also everywhere in Scripture. Don’t make it about you. Pray a prayer each day for humility and a lack of pride.
Years ago, I heard about a simple exercise to help give aspects of my ministry away. The exercise begins with you getting a large poster board, a large of stack of post-its and a marker. The first step in the exercise is writing down all of the tasks and responsibilities you have. Write down one task or responsibility per post-it and place the post it’s in rows at the top of the poster board. The second step is to use the marker to draw a line from left to right on the poster board under the rows of post-its. The third step is to evaluate each post-it and determine if you could give that task or responsibility away through delegation and training. If so, move the post-it from the top of the poster board to below the line at the bottom of the poster board. After your evaluation is complete, you will see at the top the things only you can do and at the bottom the things that you can apply Ephesians 4. The last step is to then begin the process of giving each post-it away.
If you put that exercise in practice regularly, you will go a long way to ensure that it’s not all about you and that you are not a bad boss!
You Can’t Take All of the Credit
I recently heard about a big event, and the leader came in at the last minute to run the show. All of the prep work, set-up, planning, etc., was done primarily without the boss. It wasn’t this boss’s vision or plan. But at the end of the day, guess what? This boss took all of the credit! One of the employees anticipated that when he said, “They’d better not take the credit on this one!” And, the boss did. Don’t be that boss.
I have a practice that I call the Double Deflection. As you know, to deflect means to change direction. That is what I want to do with praise and credit that comes my way. I first want to deflect that praise to God who ultimately gets all of the credit and praise. After that, I want to deflect the credit and praise to my team. This double deflection practice is really like a muscle. I have found that the more I use it, the more it becomes a default practice for me as a boss. To ensure that you are not a bad boss, learn to deflect the credit and praise to God and to your team!
Your Team Needs to Know You’re a Teammate with Them
The best bosses think of themselves as working for the people around them. What example did we see in Jesus? A servant leader. In Mark 9:35, Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.” Let your team know that your leadership mentor is Jesus and that being a servant leader and teammate is what you strive to be as a godly leader.
One of the best ways to drill this concept home is to study the life of Jesus. The more you do that, the more you learn His servant leadership style and the way He sacrificed time and time again for His followers and His God. The more success we have, the easier it is for that success to go to our head and for pride to sneak in. Daily reflecting on what Jesus did for you and who Jesus is, the easier it will be to not have it be all about you.
You Apologize When It’s Necessary
We all mess up. No one likes the person or boss that is never wrong. Just own it. Fess up. Apologize and ask for forgiveness, if necessary. That will be a good example for your employees and show them that godly bosses make mistakes, too. Actually, quite often!
A question comes to mind in regards to how to best apologize. It is easy to use DMs (direct messages on social media), texts, emails, etc. So are these new fandango communication methods best or are the old standards of phone call and face-to-face best? The answer is … it all depends. It depends on the level of the mistake, the person it was with, the timing of the fault and more. I will say this as a guiding principle—don’t take the easiest route. Usually, though not always, the easiest route is not the best route. In fact, sometimes the easiest route can really zap a lot of the power out of the apology.
You and I have both heard phrases like well, yes he apologized, but it was in a text. Again, that’s not always the case. One of my best friend’s most meaningful ways to communicate is text. He’s able to express himself in deeper ways than in person. Just yesterday, I received an apology text from him. It was not the easiest in his case due to several circumstances including that our conversation that he was apologizing for was over text. So, to apologize via text made 100% sense in this case. All I am saying is that you need to evaluate and execute the best method to apologize based on that particular situation. Just don’t chicken out and go via electronic method when you know that the best way to do it is voice-to-voice or face-to-face.
I have a passion to equip godly leaders to be the best they can be. I would welcome you to come visit my Essential Godly Leadership blog. Let me know your thoughts about being a godly boss!
