Why Being a Boss Trumps Being a Buddy

You want to be liked and need to have friends. That’s a part of being human.

But what about colleagues or team members at work? Should you prioritize friendship or leadership? Should you be boss or buddy?

If you have ever struggled with these questions, this week is for you.

What it means:

Wikipedia defines friendship as a relationship of mutual affection between people. While there is nothing wrong with a platonic relationship with mutual affection between colleagues, the best leaders see the lines of friendship and leadership differently. They know their primary job is not friendship but remembering the purpose of leadership. 

Which boils down to elevating others to higher levels of performance. This doesn’t mean you or any leader should avoid or reject being friends with a team member. If a friendship grows, that is great, but that’s not the purpose of the relationship.

What it means:

Some employees don’t want or need a friend from their boss, but they do have to know their boss cares about them. This seems simple, but a recent study found that 59% of employees have never worked for a boss who truly cares about them.

When you show your people you care about them and prioritize leadership, you will be viewed with more respect, reliability, impartiality, and fairness. All are essential in professional relationships.  

What it means:

This principle hit me like a ton of bricks this week, and it’s essential for any leader to remember. One of your primary responsibilities is to prepare your team to perform. Which means you must help them train well.

Leaders show up daily to coach, teach, and challenge their team members to develop their skills.

Lead your best today,

John Eades | CEO LearnLoft

Why Being a Boss Trumps Being a Buddy for Successful Leadership (Blog)

Raising the Bar on Employee Performance (Video)

The 64-Day Excellence Planner

The odds are that you started this year with all the right intentions, goals, and maybe even a plan, but you have not executed well on that to date. While no planner can do the work for you, the 64-Day Excellence Planner will help.

Now is the time to turn your focus and productivity around. Introducing the 64-Day Excellence Planner, meticulously crafted to mirror the strategies of high performers. Select the planner or program that best fits your needs and use the code “newsletter” to get 20% off.

1. 64-Day Excellence Planner (Digital only $19.99 this month)

2. 64-Day Excellence Planner Wirebound

3. 64-Day Excellence Program

Today’s Leadership Poll Winner

Last week, 25% of you said the inspirational quote you would carry with you this week was, “Growth is only possible when you're uncomfortable.”

Take that as a prompt to do things that make you uncomfortable.

Congratulations to Jackie Stevens with Suntrust for winning the 64-Day Excellence Planner in July!

Here are some ways we could work together:

Roll out the Accelerate Leadership System - Only 15% of new managers receive training, and 60% of leaders fail within 18 months. Instead of hoping your most talented people figure out how to be leaders, now is the time to show them how. Introducing the Accelerate Leadership System: Provide your managers with the foundation to be successful with tailored examples, tools, and stories to fit your company culture. Ideal for managers, supervisors, and executives in groups of 8+.

Skill Mastery Workshops - Provide 2-hour virtual or in-person skill mastery workshops to groups of 8+. Focus on skills like Accountability, Coaching, Relationship Building, Strategic Decision Making, Time Management, Team Execution, Retention, Recruiting, Leadership Fundamentals, or Change Management.

1:1 Executive Leadership Coaching—Get 1:1 coaching to improve performance. Coaching programs are six months long and include a LearnLoft-certified coach. They are perfect for one executive or a group of executives who aren’t meeting their potential.

Speaking - We’re now booking keynotes for Q3 & Q4. Reply to this note or fill out the form here, and our team will be in touch to discuss topics, availability, and pricing.

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