“The best boss I ever had.” That’s a phrase most of us have said or heard at some point. But what does that statement mean? What makes us think that somebody is a great manager?

—— Here is our list ——

1. The best boss is a trust builder: he/she can create a sense of trust and concern with his/her team of paralegals.
2. The best boss is a communicator: he/she can effectively communicate the purpose, steps, and expected outcome for a project at hand to the team members.
3. The best boss is a climate builder: he/she knows how to develop ways to make work and the workplace enjoyable and fulfilling.
4. The best boss is flexible: he/she recognizes, understands, and adapts to our needs and views.
5. The best boss is an esteem builder: he/she can develop ways to give us responsibility, freedom to act, and feel good about ourselves.
6. The best boss is a talent developer: he/she coaches us, so we can grow professionally and are more committed and loyal to our firm or department.
7. The best boss is a high-performance builder: he/she can create conditions that reinforce high levels of performance.
8. The best boss is a retention expert: he/she understands the supporting values central to retaining the best among us and has the ability to identify potential problems and take preemptive actions.
9. The best boss is a talent finder: he/she actively seeks to source and select the most qualified paralegals for each project.

We are not machines and have the freedom to choose how we react to situations and where and with whom we wish to work.

Being a great manager is a very different skill from being a great professional with a lot of knowledge and experience. A great boss combines being a great professional with being a great manager.

The best boss must also be the one who invests and believes in us, so we remain committed and dedicated to being the best paralegal we can be!

So, how is your boss doing in terms of people skills? And if you are a manager, have you developed your people skills to the fullest?

More information

Marcus Buckingham, What Great Managers Do, Harvard Bus. Rev. (2005).
Craig R. Taylor, Retention Leadership, Harvard Bus. Revi. (2004).
Anthony Balderrama, What makes a good boss?, CNN.com (2009).
Carolyn Kepcher, When it comes to being a good boss, employees say being nice trumps being smart, Nydailynews.com (2011).