I was reading with interest, the report that Adecco Group, in the USA, has put out, as a result of their survey – asking people what makes a good boss.
They surveyed 1,000 people in America – employees and bosses to find out what makes a “best boss”.
What I found very interesting is that those people surveyed were ask who, out of a pool of well-known people and celebrities, would they consider to be their ideal boss.
Well, number one was Oprah Winfrey 37%, followed by Barack Obama 35%.
Then take a look at some of the others in the group in order of the most popular –
Donald Trump – 28%
Michelle Obama – 26%
George W Bush – 19%
Arnold Schwarzenegger – 16%
Sarah Palin – 15%
Martha Stewart – 14%
with Simon Cowell even collecting 8% of the votes.
I am not sure what people consider the ‘traits’ of a good boss are!!
Is it being a ‘talk-show host’ type person, a leader, a billionaire who has done jail time or an entrepreneur renowned for his blunt, and controversial criticisms (this could be Donald Trump or Simon Cowell!).
1 out of 3 employees also thought they were smarter than their bosses but didn’t want their bosses jobs.
With the age of social media, although 61% of employees considered their boss as a friend, this didn’t extend to connecting with them on Facebook. I personally don’t think connecting with your boss as a friend on Facebook is a wise idea.
The Adecco report goes further and explores the difference between what style of leadership employers think they demonstrate, compared to what style of leadership most employees think their managers demonstrate and then what style of leadership do employees most want.
Visionary, democratic and coaching came out high in the ‘want’ list, but lower in the ‘actual’ findings with many bosses believing they demonstrate a coaching style 29% whilst only 20% of employees actually witnessing this. Similarly, only 11 percent of bosses felt they exhibited a commanding leadership style while double that number – 23 percent – reported that was the style their boss most exhibited. In fact, more employees thought their bosses demonstrated commanding styles than any other leadership style. Bosses, on the other hand, thought they were being better coaches than they actually were.
If you are interested, read the report here. This will take you to the Adecco Group site, click on ‘News’ and then “What Makes a Best Boss”.
What well-known personality, celebrity do you think would make a good boss?