Questions that help you find out how good your boss is. Research included.

1. How good
is your boss?

2. Question # 1
How good is your boss
at participating?

3. Research shows that leadership participation
is crucial for collaboration.
https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-no-one-uses-the-corporate-social-network

5. Top 6 excuses of managers for not participating on social media
1. I don’t have time.
2. It’s not about me.
3. It doesn’t replace face-to-face.
4. It’s marketing’s job.
5. Who cares about what I had for lunch.
6. I don’t want to get my company in trouble.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-do-when-execs-avoid-social-media-answer-top-6-excuses-li

6. On a scale from 1 to 10,
how good is your boss at participating?
1 10

7. Question # 2
How good is your boss at
asking people questions?

8. Question from school principal to cafeteria worker:
“I've been thinking about how to improve the flow
of kids as they enter the kitchen to get their food.
What do you think?"
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/questions-principals-should-be-asking-mitch-center

9. Leaders who ask their people, “What can
our company do to help you grow and
achieve your goals?” will find it comes
back 10-fold.
https://hbr.org/2010/07/when-your-employees-know-more

10. http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2008/03/_the_root_of_th.shtml
You want to create an environment
where new ideas are popping all the time.
If you do, old problems and ineffective
ways of doing things will begin dissolving.

11. https://twitter.com/Leadershipfreak/status/453403663885541376

12. The most effective leaders actively ask for feedback
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2013/12/19/the-best-gift-leaders-can-give-honest-feedback/

13. On a scale from 1 to 10,
How good is your boss at asking people questions?
1 10

14. Question # 3
How good is your boss
at listening?

15. Of all the skills of leadership, listening
is one of the most valuable.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/developing_leaders_in_a_business

16. Outstanding leaders are
people who first listen.
Daniel Goleman
Sources
http://freevideolectures.com/Course/2525/Leadership-by-Harvard-Business/5

17. They spend a significant amount of time
talking with people to understand what
motivates and how they can support and
boost enthusiasm in others.
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/assets/docs/publications/232_leadership_execsummFINAL.pdf

18. On a scale from 1 to 10,
How good is your boss at listening?
1 10

19. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Listening-tips-1485898

20. Question # 4
How inspiring is your boss?

21. The boss's role is to enthuse,
enable and encourage.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Staff-first-customers-second-for-HCL-boss/articleshow/6039039.cms#ixzz13Yu5pFxH
Vineet Nayar

22. Inspiring leaders encourage people
to be innovative.
https://hbr.org/2013/06/what-inspiring-leaders-do

23. 4 people who are all leading
1. The first-shift line worker, who tells her boss she needs to watch the
third shift to find out what they are doing differently, is leading.
2. Her boss who says, "Great, let me know what you find out," is
leading.
3. The plant supervisor is leading when he celebrates the line worker's
initiative and acts on the information she found.
4. And the COO is leading when she inspires others to action by
telling the whole story throughout the company.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/09/why_we_need_more_women_leaders.html

24. On a scale from 1 to 10,
how good is your boss at inspiring people?
1 10

25. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-do-we-give-feedback-1761017

26. Question # 5
How good is your boss at
involving external people?

27. The age of customer capitalism
has come of age.
http://www.customerthink.com/blog/what_leaders_of_21st_century_customer_centric_organisations_do

28. Leadership is the art of mobilizing others
to want to struggle for shared aspirations.
Jim Kouzes
Barry Posner
http://www.inc.com/brian-evje/quick-define-leadership.html

29. 1 10
On a scale from 1 to 10,
how good is your boss at involving external people?

30. Question # 6
How good is your boss at
making self management
possible?

31. When we choose for ourselves, we are
far more committed to the outcome - by
a factor of at least 5 to 1.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/increasing_the_meaning_quotient_of_work

32. Jonathan Becher removed
himself from some of the
approval chains. He delegated
critical and visible decisions to
his direct reports.
http://www.managementexchange.com/story/culture-eats-strategy

33. Delegation benefits managers,
direct reports, and organizations.
http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2012/07/why-arent-you-delegating.html

34. Stepping back so others can step up is
among the toughest challenges of
leadership.
http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/the-12-toughest-challenges-of-leadership/

35. The best executives understand which
decisions they need to focus on and which
ones they can delegate.
http://hbr.org/2013/11/you-cant-be-a-wimp-make-the-tough-calls/ar/1

36. Adapted from
Tannenbaum, Robert and Schmidt, Warren H.: How to choose a leadership pattern.
Harvard Business Review, March – April 1958, Vol. 36, No. 2.
Use of authority by
the leader
Freedom for people
to lead themselves
High
power distance
Low
power distance

37. When people lose their sense of control,
such as when tasks are dictated to them,
the brain's emotional response centre can
actually cause a decrease in cognitive
functioning.
https://hbr.org/2013/04/stop-telling-your-employees-wh

38. 4 reasons why managers don't delegate
Reason # 1
Some are perfectionists who feel it's easier to do everything themselves, or that their
work is better than others'.
Reason # 2
Some believe that passing on work will detract from their own importance.
Reason # 3
Some lack self-confidence and don't want to be upstaged by their subordinates.
Reason # 4
Some fear delegation because they've been burned in the past.
https://hbr.org/2012/07/why-arent-you-delegating.html

39. On a scale from 1 to 10,
How good is your boss at delegating decision making?
1 10

40. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-can-we-make-better-decisions-2058027

41. Question # 7
How good is your boss at
helping people find and
use their strengths?

42. At Gore, leaders emerge, and once they’re in a
leadership role, they understand their job is to
bring out the strengths of their teams, to
make their colleagues successful.
http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2010/03/18/lessons-from-a-middle-aged-revolutionary-at-wl-gore/

43. What can you do to encourage people?
http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/energy-for-a-new-year/

44. What can you do to help people
be more effective?
Sources
http://blogs.hbr.org/hill-lineback/2011/04/the-most-important-question-a.html
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2011/ca2011045_217749.htm

45. http://hbr.org/2014/05/blue-ocean-leadership/ar/1
When you think of your leadership as
services you do for others, who would
buy which services from you? Why?

46. On a scale from 1 to 10,
how good is your boss at helping people
find and use their strengths?
1 10

47. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-do-great-teachers-do-2178430

48. Question # 8
How good is your boss
at thinking creatively?

49. Great leaders
 see before others see,
 understand before others understand, and
 act before others act.
https://hbr.org/2016/01/want-to-be-an-outstanding-leader-keep-a-journal

50. To thrive as a C-level executive, an individual
needs to be a good communicator, a
collaborator, and a strategic thinker.
http://hbr.org/2011/03/the-new-path-to-the-c-suite/ar/6

51. The 3 most important leadership qualities
Study based on one-on-one interviews with over 1,500 corporate heads and public sector leaders across 60 nations and 33 industries.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1648943/creativity-the-most-important-leadership-quality-for-ceos-study

52. A creative person is someone who decides
to produce ideas, to support ideas that go
against the crowd.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/22/robert-jeffrey-sternberg-leadership-managing-varghese.html

53. On a scale from 1 to 10,
How good is your boss at thinking creatively?
1 10

54. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Creativity-exercises-2378829

55. Question # 9
How good is your boss
at thinking globally?

56. Leaders with a strong stock of global mindset
know about cultures as well as political and
economic systems in other countries, and
understand how their global industry works.
https://hbr.org/2010/05/bringing-the-global-mindset-to.html

57. http://kolindkuren.dk/2006/12/21/leder-21-taenker-globalt/
Any leader must think globally.

58. On a scale from 1 to 10,
How good is your boss at thinking globally?
1 10

59. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Globalization-2173145

60. Question # 10
How good is your boss
at seeking simplicity?

61. Guy Wollaert literally followed oranges from the
groves to the consumer to understand every step of
the juice-making process and to identify where there
was opportunity for change.
https://hbr.org/2016/04/when-was-the-last-time-you-asked-why-are-we-doing-it-this-way

62. A good leader cuts away at complexity
until simplicity emerges.
http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/ten-radical-shift-in-thinking-all-leaders-face/

63. On a scale from 1 to 10,
how good is your boss at seeking simplicity?
1 10

64. Question # 11
How well does your boss
know who she / he is?

65. http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/the-first-secret-of-developing-a-leader/

66. Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Questions-to-discover-your-values-1329394