Lady bosses- I love connecting with my team. I hate wondering if I’m the Michael Scott manager as I’ve learned that employees will just tolerate you, and the power dynamics makes it so weird to connect with a boss (I get it!) I feel like being a boss is like “throwing a party people have to attend and you really hope they have a good time”. I guess the questions is- what are some good boss/host tips you’ve picked up (beyond the good Manager stuff- set goals; develop the team).

All of the above. And scrap the term “lady bosses.” We are bosses. You are a boss. Full stop.

I’m not a manager yet but I can tell you when one of my managers always thanks me for my hard work it goes way farther than the other manager that doesn’t.

I’ve spent more than 30 years managing people. The best advice I have is know your people. We are all motivated by different things and you should know and use the appropriate motivations for each person to ensure they feel valued as a part of the team. Some examples: Some people want to be thanked publicly, while others cringe at the thought. For some, thanking them every day for doing their job is ideal, while for others, thanking them for things other than “above and beyond” efforts makes you look like a lazy and disingenuous manager. And, providing exposure opportunities will thrill your ambitious team members but it will terrify (and may backfire) someone who isn’t ready.

Look at all the managers you’ve had or you’ve encountered. Find the best qualities in them and emulate them. That’s what I’ve done.

I’m not a manager but what I really appreciate from mine is that she takes the time to get to know her team because she wants to; sometimes the first few min of our calls is just shooting the shit and chatting about life before getting into the topic of the call. Granted this isn’t for everyone (not everyone wants their boss to know them on a personal level) but for those who like having that kind of connection with their boss, it’s pretty great. It definitely builds trust and I don’t think there’s anything that could come up at work that I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to her for help on.

As a leader I build trust with my team by caring about their employment experience and always offering to help and support. As a result, I always have employees who go above and beyond. As an employee, I wish I had the same experience for myself.

My best tip is don’t be a Michael Scott. Your employees are there to earn a living and develop professionally, not to entertain you. Don’t try to do too many parties or get-togethers… far better to do fewer but more impactful. Be grateful. Take an interest in their career and development. Advocate for them.

Providing your team with opportunities to interact outside of the day-to-day work is good management. You know what your doing. Stop doubting yourself with this Michael Scott manger brand of imposter syndrome.

Yes. Listen. Help them finding their strength and weaknesses. Help them building a career path. Sometimes you sniff out something’s off before they do themselves. My experience is that gets you through, especially when you can’t give out promotions, salary’s increase etc. make them feel seen and heard.

Someone told me I must be Michael Scott to my employees (let's say i have a big personality) so i had to watch a few episodes of that show. What a horror!

I've been a manager for almost a decade with teams ranging in size from 1 (yay COVID!) to 11 direct reports. I decided a long time ago that my leadership brand would include a heavy emphasis on: "I build high performance teams". If that's my goal, then i have to make sure my actions support this goal whenever possible.

Someone posted below to get to know your team and cultivate your approach as suited to their own preferences. That's an excellent idea! Someone else mentioned that you should get to know the person as an individual (also excellent advice). And the biggest leadership learning opportunity i've encountered so far was listed already too: review the actions of the leaders around you - emulate what worked for you, do not emulate the horror actions of those bad leaders you encounter.

For me, I try to keep in mind some amazing advice i heard a year ago since i'm a talker: "Be interested, not interesting". People love to talk about themselves and you'll get more cues on how to adapt your approach to what the people want to or need to hear.