Are you the boss or the employee?

 

Are you the boss or the employee?

If you own a company that means you are the boss and not the employee. Your employees look to you for guidance and direction, not as a fellow employee. So, make up your mind, are you the boss or just another friendly employee? You can’t be both.  Many people enter a business as the owner for the wrong reason, they believe that their job in the company will allow them to one day become the perfect manager, which I can tell you will never happen if you have that kind of attitude. You are either the boss and owner or you’re an employee working for a paycheck. As the owner you are there to build something out of nothing for the future for yourself, your family, and your employees. So, stand up and be the boss.

Don’t get me wrong you can be friendly to those around you, but you can’t be their best friend if you ever were their best friends. Let’s break this down to a level you will greatly understand and appreciate. What type of business do you run? Is it sales oriented with base salary plus commission or is it target market research where you pay your employees a base salary? If it’s a sales position and you’re still selling your company to the highest customer, then you are competing with your employees and not allowing them to earn a living. Stop it! Stop being the top salesperson in the office and allow your employees to do their job and become the top salesperson for your company. If you don’t, you’ll lose your sales force quickly because you are competing against them for customers and sales. Instead of being their friend as you would like to be, you’ve just become their competitor and enemy within the company itself. Do you want that? Or do you want more customers to service and happy employees? The choice is yours.

Always remember you’re not your employee’s coworker or friend, you’re the owner, mentor and leader who has a responsibility to as like the Boss. I’m not saying be a horrible boss who is more like an overlord or even the cool boss. It is your responsibility to lead the company to more successful endeavors so that profits will increase, and people will be comfortable to expand their own lives like planning a family, buying a house or new car without worrying about whether they can afford it due to their job status.  You never want to allow an employee to disrespect you or feel that you can’t do the job due to a lack of your own leadership skills.

You oversee the correct marketing and advertising skills, along with proper networking capabilities to expand your company to greatness. You oversee handling any potential disgruntled customers should there be one. You create the agenda for any and all staff meetings. You are the one who also creates or organizes the continued education of your employees for your business or even for their higher education eventually. You are also the one who organizes and supports all promotional events to increase your business prospects. You could be the one to work with a small team of experts on posting out proper social media posts to encourage people to become one of your new clients.  These are just a few items listed above that you are in charge of, there are others. Remember never talk about your personal life with your staff, or how the company is doing on a higher level. Don’t boast about all the millions  your making and not sharing with your employees in salary raises, that’s just rude and very obnoxious. Stay humble and average until your ready to share that wealth with your employees. Remember if you buy a new plane and your people haven’t had a raise in a few years, expect a mass exit of your employees pretty soon. You might justify it as a business expense, but they will see it as a slap in the face to their hard work. You’re reaping the spoils of their hard work and they aren’t even getting a bonus or a raise from that hard work. See what I’m saying here. Be humble and be sure to take care of your employees.

Unless you plan to be a hands-off employer and hire a full-time manager to oversee the everyday aspects of the company, be ready to take on the responsibilities necessary to run the company properly. Man, up or Woman Up and be the boss not just another employee in your company.

Author Elizabeth Kilbride is a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, and journalist. business professional, creative artist, and life coach consultant. Ms. Kilbride holds a Master's in Criminology and a BS in Business Management she stepped out of the loop for a while but is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy. As a life coach, she is available to counsel individuals to enjoy their dreams and a better life. Ms. Kilbride loves to travel, and photograph her surroundings and is also a gourmet cook who loves to garden and preserve food for the winter months.