Boss basics Archives - Page 4 of 4

Emailing when you’re angry

I feel compelled to write Bad News emails because I don’t have a very practiced in-case-of-emergency plan. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know I’m supposed to dump baking soda on a grease fire. Similarly, I think I know to be cool-headed and gracious when there are work fires to put out. But it’s a challenge to override the instinct to just run around flapping my arms. Or, to blast off outraged emails. In this edition: when to not email, what to do instead, and how to calm your rage.

Delegate responsibly

You already have a list of tasks you know you shouldn’t be spending your time on. (If you don’t, start by figuring those out.) What do you need to add to make each one meaningful? Try looking one or two ladder rungs above the task to find the larger result it’s supporting. That’s where the ownership is, and that’s what you should be delegating. Here’s how.

My team is better than me

When we release ourselves from the expectation of being the best at what we’re managing, we free up so much room, both for ourselves and for the people who shine on our teams. If we’re not trying to produce great work, we can spend more time noticing the great work they do.