Gino Wickman - How to Be a Great Boss

Other Books by Gino Wickman

Traction
Decide!
Get a Grip, with Mike Paton
Rocket Fuel, with Mark C. Winters

Copyright 2016 by Gino Wickman and Ren Boer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

The 8 Questions, Core Focus, 3-Year Picture, The Five Leadership Practices, The Five Management Practices, The Meeting Pulse, The Level 10 Meeting, The Issues Solving Track, LMA, The People Analyzer, GWC, Delegate and Elevate, The Quarterly Conversation, Clarity Break, The 5-5-5 are trademarks of EOS Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

The 90-Day World, Entrepreneurial Operating System, EOS, Traction, EOS Implementer, Certified EOS Implementer, Professional EOS Implementer, Organizational Checkup, EOS Process, EOS Model, and The EOS Life are registered trademarks of EOS Worldwide, LLC. The EOS light bulb logo shown above is a registered trademark of EOS Worldwide, LLC.

BenBella Books, Inc.

10440 N. Central Expy., Suite 800 | Dallas, TX 75231

Printed in the United States of America

10 9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN-13: 978-1-942952-84-8 | e-ISBN: 978-1-942952-85-5

Editing by Glenn Yeffeth

Copyediting by James Fraleigh

Proofreading by Brittney Martinez and Cape Cod Compositors, Inc.

Text design and composition by Silver Feather Design

Graphic design by Drew Robinson Spork Design

Cover design by Emily Weigel, Faceout Studio

Printed by Lake Book Manufacturing

Distributed to the trade by Two Rivers Distribution, an Ingram brand www.tworiversdistribution.com

To my 135 clients. The 1,700 full-day sessions
we have done together were the proving
ground for every word in this book.

GINO WICKMAN

To my supportive, resilient, and
wonderful wife, Judy. Thank you for always
being there for me. I love you very much.

REN BOER

CONTENTS

Consider this for a minute: no matter what title is on your business card, be it foreman, supervisor, manager, director, vice president, president, or chief executive officer, the people who report to you call you their boss.

The word boss comes from the Dutch word baas, originally a term of respect used to address a person in charge. We use boss purposely because that is what you aresomeone in charge, who leads and manages people. If you are ever in doubt, please come back to this definition.

We urge you to wear the title boss with pride. Youre in charge. Be in charge. Dont be apologetic or tiptoe around it. Dont give in to all the politically correct and watered-down titles such as team leader, coach, or people champion. These terms certainly describe what a great boss is and does; theyre just not all-encompassing titles. Take pride in the responsibility, but dont become arrogant or take the title boss for granted.

Never use the phrase Im the boss in an overbearing or entitled manner. No one respects people like that. Instead, they whisper behind the backs of bosses who are so stuck on themselves that they take their authority and responsibility lightly.

Walk through the offices or visit the production floors of great companies and youre likely to find engaged employees who are well led by great bosses. Those bosses create an environment where people show up every day because they want to be there, not because they have to.

So, if youre a leader or manager of people and you aspire to be a great boss, this book is written for you. You need only keep an open mind and commit to becoming great. Well provide you with the tools to help you get there.

If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

GOETHE

WHAT IF EVERY DAY YOUR PEOPLE brought their A game to work? Do you believe that is even possible?

In the next 154 pages we intend to show that it is possible, and we will teach you the tools that will transform how well your people perform for you. You will discover how to:

effectively delegate work and free yourself up to truly lead and manage,

assess your team and surround yourself with Great People,

apply five leadership practices and five management practices of all great bosses,

communicate powerfully with each of your employees, and

deal with employees that dont meet your expectations.

This book is different from any other leadership or management book youve ever readand literally tens of thousands of them have been written. What makes it different is its practical application and immediate impact. It offers no theory. Instead, it offers a straightforward game plan to help you become a great leader and manager. We can say that because every word and tool in this book have been tested and proven by thousands of leaders and managers whose influence and results are undeniable.

In the last twenty years we have personally worked with the leadership teams of more than 180 companies and more than 2,000 leaders and managers. In addition, our organization, EOS Worldwide, has 150 EOS Implementers around the world who have taught these tools to another 2,500 companies and more than 25,000 leaders and managers. Because we have tackled day-in, day-out problems with so many bosses, we know what works and what does not.

Ginos first book, Traction, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies, uncovered a vital need in the small business world: a need for a simple, real-world guide to help the leaders and managers of entrepreneurial companies become great bosses. That compelled us to write this book and provide that simple formula. Anyone with direct reports who is seeking a practical, proven way to excel at what they do can follow these steps to bring out the best in their people.

This book is for you if:

you are a leader, manager, or supervisor of people in a privately held, 10- to 250-person entrepreneurial company; or

you want to get the most out of your people and seek a simple, effective, and impactful way to become a great boss.

This book is also written to help the not-so-good bosses get out of the wayto help them acknowledge that they lack the basic understanding, desire, and capacity to develop the skills that will make them great.

We have learned that to get the most from your peopleto have a highly motivated workforceyou, in your role as boss, must create an environment where your people will thrive. Matthew Kelly, in his book Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction, points out that highly motivated employees enjoy both personal and professional satisfaction from what they do. They work hard... they enjoy the people they work with; they feel respected by their boss; they feel their work is making a contribution to customers lives; they find the challenge of their work matches their abilities; and they know why they go to work each day.