Mentor notes: How a Boss Can Help

As I've been exploring ideal work conditions from an employee's perspective, through my serving as a mentor at the University of Redlands School of Business, I jotted down a few ideas for how a boss can help their charges. Here is that short list (feel free to comment or add to it):

How a boss can help:

•    Clarify roles
•    Clarify objectives
•   Use clear, regular communication about expectations and constructive and encouraging feedback for improvement
•   Create time and opportunities to co-explore insights about performance, not just keeping up with “to do’s” and not focused on missed opportunities, but filtering priorities and revisiting objectives and metrics, seeking agreement on adjustments and progress as a “thought partner”
•   Be seen as authoritative and fair; no favoritism
•   Be willing to mentor, or if not, willing to provide employee with a “coach”
•   Provide a safe work environment
•   Be willing to admit mistakes (“just because you are ‘sure’ doesn’t mean you are ‘right’), provide teachable moments based on own experience
•  Model the behavior employees are expected to uphold (no gossiping, no venting about peers, no oversharing, keep commitments, do not take advantage of position/privilege, roll up one’s sleeves)
• Remove obstacles
• Provide development opportunities
• Encourage promotion, upward mobility
• Give clear and regular communication about assignments