Month: October 2024

Should you become friends with your boss? It’s a question both employees and leaders ask themselves. One of the first pieces of advice I remember receiving when I became a supervisor was, “Your goal should not be to become their friend.” While that’s sound advice that is well documented in leadership theory, the issue arises when bosses take the I’m-not-their-friend philosophy too far and assume that it isn’t a problem when employees consider them the enemy. This post is the third in a series featuring excerpts from Burl Stamp’s upcoming new book, Becoming a Better Boss, which is scheduled to be published next year. This entry is from the chapter titled “The Better Boss Mindset.” I experienced first-hand how this exaggerated, warped view of leadership

No one argues that the stress you carry when you are in charge can be daunting, and it usually only gets more intense as you rise through the leadership ranks of an organization. In addition to the inherent pressures of the job itself, senior leaders carry a sense of personal responsibility with them 24/7 in ways that often feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders. This post is the second in a series featuring excerpts from Burl Stamp’s upcoming new book, Becoming a Better Boss, which is scheduled to be published early next year. This entry is from the chapter titled “The Better Boss Mindset.” So, given the pressures and responsibilities that come with leadership, executives must do the most important

How often have you heard an old-school boss say (or at least think), “Hey, they should consider themselves lucky to have a job.” Our next few blog posts will feature excerpts from Burl Stamp’s upcoming new book, Becoming a Better Boss, which is scheduled to be published early next year. This entry is from the chapter titled “The Better Boss Mindset.” This mindset probably traces some of its roots all the way back to the Great Depression, when individuals did indeed feel lucky to have any job at all. I still remember spending time as a kid with my grandparents who spent a good part of their early working life during the Depression. That frightening, discouraging time influenced the way they thought about life and