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Roxanne Tyson - TabbJan 31, 2018 8:21:36 AM2 min read

How Do You Create True Leaders out of Ordinary Bosses?

Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.”

Are the management staff in your organization leaders or bosses?

The answer makes a difference to the bottom line. As with employees, some leaders are better than others; and much like top performers, top leaders contribute a disproportionate amount to company profitability. According to The Harvard Business Review (HBR), “Combined, [the top 10% of managers] contribute about 48% higher profit to their companies than average managers.

That’s partially because bad bosses affect everyone under, and around, them too.

Managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores, per Gallup, and contribute to the loss of employees. Worse, in the Workplace Productivity Survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), poor management was the #1 reason for diminished productivity.

The short of it: “Bad managers cost businesses billions of dollars each year, and having too many of them can bring down a company,” writes HBR.

But what defines a good manager? According to Gallup:

• They motivate their employees;

• They cultivate a culture of accountability;

• They build open, trust-based relationships; and

• They make decisions based on evidence and productivity rather than politics.

But their success isn’t just about what they do, it’s also about what the company does to support these leaders. Best practices for managing managers include:

• Making a concentrated effort to hire the best bosses;

• Providing adequate training and support to your managers and supervisors; and

• Pulling back on the micro-managing.

Also, be aware of the Peter Principle, or the concept that people will get promoted until they reach a position of incompetence. Remember, managing is a different skill from doing. There can be a tendency to say, “Peter is our best salesperson. If we put him in charge of the whole sales team, everyone will improve.” The problem is that the skills that make Peter great at sales aren’t necessarily leadership or management skills, and you can inadvertently promote him into a position where you simultaneously stop your best salesperson from making any sales and put someone in the management role who is not competent at management. For more information, read our article “How do you manage managers?”

Need more information on leadership in the workplace? CoAdvantage, one of the nation’s largest Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), helps small to mid-sized companies with HR best practices, benefits, payroll, and compliance. To learn more about our ability to create a strategic HR function in your business that drives business growth potential, contact us today.

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Roxanne Tyson - Tabb
Roxanne Tyson-Tabb serves as Human Resources Business Advisor at CoAdvantage, where she provides tactical and strategic HR support to clients and internal teams to ensure compliance, strengthen programs, and drive satisfaction and retention. In this role, which she has held from November 2023 to present, she turns complex requirements into clear actions and helps businesses build dependable HR practices. Previously, Roxanne served as an Account Executive from June 2014 to October 2023, delivering human resources management and high-touch account service across a diverse client portfolio. Before joining CoAdvantage, she spent more than 15 years leading HR operations for multi-site organizations in the pharmaceutical, medical device, aerospace, and marine sectors. Her focus has included new business start-ups and consolidations, scalable HR programs, and support for workforces ranging from 50 to more than 400 employees. Roxanne holds an MBA from Argosy University and a bachelor’s degree in English and Communication from Bluffton University. She is SHRM-CP and PHR certified. She gives back through Metropolitan Ministries, Feeding Tampa Bay, Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, and her church. She lives in Riverview, Florida, enjoys time with family and friends, and loves shopping and travel.

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