Every manager wants to be a better boss. Find out how in our newest slideshare, featuring sales management tips from author and expert Geoffrey James.

1. 10 Ways to Be a Better Boss
From InsightSquared and Inspired by Geoffrey James

2. Geoffrey James
writes a widely-
read, daily sales
column for
Inc.com. He has
also written
several
books, such as
Business to
Business Selling:
Power Words
and Strategies
from the World’s
Top Sales
Experts, Success
Secrets from
Silicon
Valley, and The
Tao of
Programming.

3. We at
InsightSquared
are big fans of
Geoffrey James
and regular
readers of his
blog. We were
inspired by
several of his
sales
management
blog posts to
create this
presentation of
our 10 favorite
management
tips.

4. 1. Never vent anger at employees.
Your employees know that you’re human. You get
stressed, but that’s never an excuse to let it out on
them.

5. 1. Never vent anger at employees.
When you explode at your employees or throw a
temper tantrum that negativity will stay with them for
the rest of your time working together.

6. 1. Never vent anger at employees.
When you feel yourself getting angry, practice some
emotional detachment.

7. 2.Pay more than your competitors.
Give you employees higher than average
compensation. You may think that you should
minimize pay to save money, but that is not true.

8. 2.Pay more than your competitors.
Good pay will bring good work. Average pay will bring
average work. Employees can easily look up what
their peers are making, so don’t cheat them.

9. 3. Get a reality check.
Sometimes we can be angry bosses without meaning
to be. Other times our comments can be
misinterpreted.

10. 3. Get a reality check.
Cultivate a few trusted employees to be your reality
checkers. Let them tell you when you are getting out
of hand and then listen to them.

11. 4. Email carefully.
It’s hard to pick up on tone in an email. Because of
this, you need to be careful how you phrase your
correspondences, especially when you are annoyed.

12. 4. Email carefully.
Make sure that you don’t phrase anything in a way
that could sound abrupt or angry.

13. 4. Email carefully.
If your colleagues misinterpret your email, it could lead
to feelings of resentment or anger.

14. 5. Manage people, not numbers.
Don’t spend all of your time focused on the bottom
line.

15. 5. Manage people, not numbers.
Your data is a result of how well you are managing
your team.

16. 5. Manage people, not numbers.
The numbers are an important indication of how you
are doing, but if you want to change anything you
need to work with the people.

17. 6. You are your worst employee.
Managers often make the mistake of measuring their
coaching strategy by their highest performer. In
fact, they should be doing just the opposite.

18. 6. You are your worst employee.
High performers are likely to be driven by their own
motivations, outside of your coaching.

19. 6. You are your worst employee.
Weak performers represent your biggest challenge; if
you can help them improve, you are doing well.
Plus, they represent the lowest level you will tolerate.

20. 7. Have one priority/employee.
You can’t tell your employees that every task is top
priority. They will not be able to guess which one you
actually want done first.

21. 7. Have one priority/employee.
Your job as their boss is to tell each employee which
task is their top priority so that they can work most
efficiently.

22. 8. Apologize for bad behavior.
If you do lose control, atone for it publicly. This will
make it clear that you do not tolerate the kind of
behavior you displayed.

23. 8. Apologize for bad behavior.
Although it may be hard for your employees to forgive
you right away, they will appreciate that you
acknowledged your mistake.

24. 9. Protect your team.
Don’t let customers or people inside your company
treat your people badly.

25. 9. Protect your team.
If you notice that a customer is treating your team
badly, drop them. The business from them is not
worth the demoralizing hit to your team.

26. 9. Protect your team.
If you notice your team members being bullied or
harassed by people in other departments, don’t let it
continue. Talk with their supervisor to stop it.

27. 9. Protect your team.
If your people absolutely have to work with difficult
clients or colleagues, consider giving them a bonus to
show you appreciate their effort.

28. 10. Take care of yourself.
Do your best to stay healthy. Get enough sleep and
take preventative action. If you do get sick, take the
day off so that you can recover quickly.

29. 10. Take care of yourself.
You owe it to your team to be on top of your
game, which you can’t do if you are sick. Plus, you will
be grumpier, less focused, and less efficient.

30. Thank you for viewing our presentation!

31. You can visit our website at
http://www.insightsquared.com/ and our blog at
http://www.insightsquared.com/blog/

32. Photo Credits
“01 100” Courtesy of Victor 1558”
“Geoffrey James” Courtesy of Forbes
“Yelling Man” Courtesy of Paul Cross
“01 (50)” Courtesy of Victor 1558
“Money” Courtesy of David Beyer
“Felix and Ludwig express manly affection” Courtesy of Very Quiet
“Doug on his computer1” Courtesy of Eric Schmuttenmaer
“Ludgate Community Managers” Courtesy of Rob Enslin
“Frustration” Courtesy of Creative Ignition
“Theatertweetup bij Sartre segt sorry van Laura van Dolron” Courtesy of
Maurice (Haags Uitburo)
“Castle” Courtesy of Dave Stokes
“Not well” Courtesy of Jenny Mealing
“Salman Ahmad inspires the audience to sing and clap along” Courtesy of M.
Elizabeth Williams, Girl + Camera LLC, and TEDx NJLibraries