by Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s Co-Founding Partner, written for Specialty Food Magazine

Not long ago I had coffee with a good friend who told me of her frustrations with working for a bad boss. She voiced understandable irritation regarding the absurd way her manager was behaving, but there was also a surprising acceptance of his behavior that comes from years of effectively working with—and around—him. Other than a coup d’état or quitting, there isn’t much she can do; the organization is successful, she has a good job that she likes and she believes passionately in what she does. Also, quitting isn’t always a good option for someone who has a house payment and a couple of kids to raise. She knows that her boss isn’t a bad guy—he’s just a bad boss. But that doesn’t ease the spirit-killing results of working for someone like that.

I believe bad bosses can change. Poor leaders can choose not to be irrational, undependable and angry all the time. This is a list of energy-building, effective, courtesy-based behaviors that will help leaders succeed. I’ve also noted contrasting behaviors to take note to avoid because they cause employees to feel unempowered and resigned to whatever low standards and low expectations this kind of leadership behavior creates.

1. Be Considerate

A gentle hand, a welcoming tone and a caring question are almost always appreciated. Having empathy and looking at things from someone else’s perspective is helpful. Used rotely, polite words are meaningless, but saying them sincerely, truly thinking kindly and considerately of others, means the world. If nothing else, the leader exudes good energy, which surely will be returned with good energy from others, and get the entire organization going in the right direction.

Or a leader can be rude, but it will never be helpful. It may be obvious, but let me just say it: Riding over others, cutting people off mid-sentence, yelling unnecessarily and basically just being a jerk is never productive. This behavior helps no one, least of all the leader who’s doing it. What it does do is sow seeds of victimhood. When people can’t get heard, when no one cares what they think, when they’re shut down and shut off before they’ve even finished sharing their thoughts, then they start to think and feel like a victim.

2. Be Consistent

Whatever style a leader chooses, she has to be consistent with that style. One of the most important roles for any leader is to create confidence, and that confidence is based, in part, on consistency. People want to know what they can count on. The more consistent the leader is, the less the staff worries about the random wackiness of what she’s going to do or say next. If she wants to be strict, that’s fine—but she has to be strict all of the time. Leaders need to be consistent with their energy, their personality, their decision style and everything else.

Or a leader can be all over the place—and accept that she is destabilizing her staff. The most frustrating bosses are the ones who are open and appreciative one day, then distant and dictatorial on the next. This scattershot style is productive only if they’re out to produce a victim mindset in their staff. When bosses are predictable only in their unpredictability, people on the front lines don’t go for greatness, they just look for cover.

3. Be Reasonable

It’s easier to work with, and for, a manager who’s reasonable and who consistently and effectively explains his reasoning about his decisions. It is important for employees to understand the reasons behind big directives as well as small ones so they know why they are doing what they are doing. The employees don’t even necessarily need to agree with the decisions to appreciate that some balanced, reasonable, ethically oriented thinking took place.

Or a leader can be elusive and cause disdain and distrust among the staff toward his directives. Frontline folks are at the mercy of the way the management winds happen to blow on any given day. And when frontline people start basing their actions on the mood of the manager, the business is not benefitting. So, even if a leader is tempted, he shouldn’t say things like: “That’s the way it is,” “Just take care of it,” “I’m in charge here,” or “I don’t want to talk about it—just get it done.”

4. Bring Good Energy

Effective leaders, without question, will bring positive energy to the workplace almost every day. Through profit and painful loss, successes and shortfalls, the best bosses stay positive pretty much all the time. While no one is perfect, the ability to bring a good game face every day is a huge help. Everything, after all, starts with the boss, and if her presence is positive, calm and focused, it’s far more likely that everyone else around her will show up in a similar style. All of which means better decisions, better teamwork and better business.

Or a leader can infect everyone with her bad energy and watch productivity go down the drain. Bad energy can eat at an organization’s culture far more effectively than almost anything else. The best possible scenario is that people still believe in the cause and learn to lay low in the leader’s presence but still want to do good work in spite of her. And the worst case is that they take bad energy as the everyday norm, in which case they, knowingly or not, start to replicate it. Before long the entire organization will be sending bad vibes out into the universe.

5. Be Humble and Share the Credit

Effective leaders share the success—emotionally, financially and otherwise—with the group. Effective leaders are also humble. They don’t brag and they’re deferential. No matter what they’ve achieved, they’ll almost always tell you that others did most of the work, that it can all be done better down the road, and that they have a whole lot yet to learn. Constantly affirming—assuming they mean it—their desire to keep learning and improving sets the right tone for the team.

Or a leader can brag and grab all the credit and attention for himself—and create a resentful workplace. I know that there are bosses who pull this off and are somehow seen by society as big successes. But there are also thieves who make off with lots of other people’s money and live to tell the tale—but that doesn’t mean anyone needs to aspire to replicate their unethical activity. Employee victims, those unempowered and often understandably bitter, fit in well with self-centered CEO types because when the boss is busy bragging, the cynics can have fun finding all of his faults from the safety of the sideline.

6. Show Belief in Those Around You

The more a boss believes in the abilities, creativity and commitment of the people on his team, the more likely the staff is to perform at ever higher levels. I’ve come to see belief as a modifier—it can enhance whatever natural abilities a person has. Conversely, when the leader doesn’t believe, it will make everyone worse than they would have been left to their own devices. A bit of belief costs nothing and will go a long way toward making wonderful things happen.

Or a leader can convey constant criticism, disbelief and distrust and undermine the staff’s efforts. Disbelief, distrust and criticism, without a huge infusion of positive belief to counterbalance them, are a recipe for certain failure. When the leader acts like others have nothing to offer, the staff will offer little, and the leader will lament ever hiring them. The situation creates instability, uncertainty and an exceptional level of ineffectiveness, for which the only reward is that the negative leader gets to be right about how awful everyone around him was.

7. Follow Through

This is so basic and yet, surprisingly, so uncommon. The data I’ve seen says that American executives complete only 50 percent of what they commit to doing. Following through is not fancy—if you get a phone call or an email or a letter, just respond, right? I know that we all mess up, but when the stack of misses is high as the successes, something’s seriously wrong. Winning teams don’t make a lot of silly mistakes; great organizations get the little things done; and leaders of winning organizations, both large and small, know that it all that starts with them.

Or a leader can be known for dropping the ball and thereby encourage everyone around her to do the same. Answering email, showing up for scheduled training sessions and returning phone calls are the free-throw shoots, the foundation of organizational life. If a boss doesn’t do them well, it won’t matter how well she does all the more glamorous work. No matter what else she creates, the edges of everything will always be fraying.

8. Listen Well

Robert Greenleaf, founder of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, wrote, “I believe that the first step in good communication anywhere is listening. Everyone who aspires to strength should consciously practice listening, regularly.” Greenleaf suggests leaders set aside an hour every week to listen to someone who might have something to say that will be of interest. “It should be conscious practice in which all of the impulses to argue, inform, judge and ‘straighten out’ the other person are denied. Every response should be calculated to reflect interest, understanding and seeking for more knowledge,” he adds.

Or a leader can allow himself to tune out and alienate everyone he works with. Victims love the situation where their leader doesn’t listen because it works with their worldview that no one is listening to them anyway. Please understand that I’m not suggesting a leader start taking orders from the new short-order cook—listening doesn’t mean the leader does exactly what is being suggested, just that he truly hears out what others have to say, both in spirit and in substance.

9. Be Real

Effective leaders learn to consistently share their feelings in unoffensive, meaningful, timely ways that allow others to hear what they’re saying but still not feel completely put upon, or instantly buried under someone else’s inappropriate emotional avalanche. People like to know what the people they work for are thinking as long as it’s done in an appropriate and timely way. A leader sharing that he’s anxious, angry or unsure is usually fine. Being real doesn’t mean being weak. Being unsure at times does not indicate that a boss is indecisive, let alone incompetent. To the contrary, when a leader asks for staff input to improve the outcomes of mindful and meaningful decisions, employees are far more likely to get behind him.

Or a leader can fake it and lose the trust of his team. No one of any ability wants to be around someone who’s not authentic. I know that there are many management books out there that argue, “Leaders should never show fear,” but I can’t fathom how that will work in the real world. Expressing that he has some fear is a far cry from acting out of fear or letting panic take over in the organization. The leader is still in charge—he is just more believable
to his employees.

I hope these first nine tenets are helpful. They are just some of the key behaviors that I believe strong leaders share.