Coaching clients ask it. People who come to a program ask it. If you’re a boss, you’ve probably asked it at least once.

“What do my team members want from me?”

In class, we get at the answer by having participants identify what they want from a boss. Then groups of participants come up with a list. The lists are always similar. Here are some common things.

Your team members want you to help them succeed as a team. Management books rarely mention this, but it’s important. Nobody wants to be a member of a losing team.

Your team members want you to help them meet their own objectives. They want you to do things that help them grow and develop and succeed as an individual.

Your team members want you to keep them safe. That means safe from The Powers that Be and safe from each other. They expect you to confront poor performance and bad behavior.

Your team members want you to be fair. Consequences should match up with performance and behavior.

Your team members want you to be consistent. They want you to enforce the rules even-handedly all the time. 

Your team members want you to treat them like people. Exploit their diversity and creativity. Allow for their differences and human fallibility.

Your team members want you to make good decisions. They want you to know when it’s time to decide and then to pull the trigger.

Boss’s Bottom Line

You’ve had bosses. Some were good and some were not. So you have an idea about what your team members want from you. They want you to act like a good boss.