You know those "Best Boss Ever" mugs? Those don't come easy. Being a good boss isn’t just about delivering results or even producing award-winning work (although that’s nice too!).

All the best bosses know it’s also about hitting an important corporate goal: employee retention.

Be clear about your expectations

“Employees want to feel a sense of accomplishment, and if you don’t know when you've achieved that, you’re never successful. You’re always left wondering.”

But don’t micromanage

Similarly, setting expectations doesn’t mean micromanaging the process of the work. Let your employees know what you want from them, and let them deliver it—even if you think you could have done a better job yourself.

Develop your talent

Encourage your team to attend industry conferences and take courses to improve their skill set, and give them challenging work that will help them develop those new skills.

Pitfall 1: Being vague or general

For example, saying "good job" or "you need to work harder" without giving any specific examples or suggestions.

To avoid this pitfall, use the STAR method: describe the Situation, the Task, the Action, and the Result of the behavior or performance you are commenting on. Then, provide clear and actionable recommendations for improvement or reinforcement.

Pitfall 2: Being negative or harsh

1️⃣ Sandwich method 🥪: Positive-negative-positive feedback

2️⃣ Feedback ratio 📊: 3+ positive comments for every negative one

3️⃣ I-statements 🗨️: Share your observations & feelings

Pitfall 3: Being untimely or infrequent

Radical Candor is a simple idea. There are two sides:

1. The first dimension is caring personally

2. The second dimension is challenging directly

How to Do It?

Caring personally is about finding time for real conversations; about getting to know each other at a human level; about learning what’s important to people; about sharing with one another what makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and go to work - and what has the opposite effect.

Challenging directly is about providing feedback right away and in a way that’s actionable and specific. It’s a way of showing that you care enough to want people to grow.

The Four Quadrants of Caring and Challenging

Obnoxious Aggression

is giving feedback without showing that you care. Scott says, “When bosses belittle employees, embarrass them publicly, or freeze them out, their behavior falls into the quadrant.”

Manipulative insincerity 

is when you don’t care enough about the person to challenge them directly. In other words, you care more about yourself than the other person.

Ruinous empathy

is avoiding any and all tension or discomfort in an effort to be nice. This kind of boss means well, but they’re not helping anybody. It can handicap your team, and keep anyone from getting or asking for the criticism they need.

Radical Candor

combining caring enough about the person to tell them something meant to help them, given in good faith.

Obnoxious Aggression shouts, “Look his fly is down!”

Manipulative Insincerity keeps silent, worried about their own feelings

Ruinous Empathy keeps silent, worried about the other person’s feelings

Radical Candor whispers, “Your fly is down.”

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