The mission of this blog post is to highlight the common personality traits of successful bosses while also identifying the additional skills and perspectives these leaders will need to advance their businesses further and create awareness of these topics.
I have been working with the founding generation, active generation, next generation, and professional managers of companies at strategic decision points for over 20 years. To be aligned with the mission of my writing, I’d like first to define some concepts and explain their interrelations.
Firstly, who is a boss? A boss is generally the person or people with the highest decision-making authority in a business or organization. It can refer to roles such as employer, business owner, manager, or leader. They are responsible for the management of the company. As you can imagine, a business can be a small-scale, single-handed tradesman, a social media account selling, or a holding company to which dozens of companies are affiliated. We can call anyone who establishes, buys or takes over a business a boss. It passes from generation to generation.
Being a boss can be associated with the leadership and management style of the person we define as a boss. It expresses behaviors. It does not pass from generation to generation; it develops in the individual. According to leadership and management styles in business life, there are different types of bosses, such as autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, transactional, coaching, charismatic, and visionary. I will explain as best as I can in another article.
Being a successful boss can be described as finding fellow travelers who share the boss’s vision and walking the path with them toward the set goals. It does not pass from generation to generation; it develops in the individual.
A successful boss can be defined as someone who dares to take risks, can stand up on their own after falling, possesses strong problem-solving skills in their field, is visionary, hardworking, passionate, inspiring -and has prioritized reaching their goals-. These are personality traits; some can be developed. It does not pass from generation to generation; it develops in the individual.
These appealing personality traits are the commonalities I observe in successful and influential individuals in the business world, which create value. The importance of these personality traits that successful bosses possess is significant for the success of their companies.
However, a successful boss may have only some of the necessary resources and personal qualities to manage growth.
Now, I want to talk about the issues that successful bosses need to consider and address to take their businesses further. If you are a successful boss, you can evaluate yourself on the following topics and prepare a plan for areas you need to improve.
Based on my conversations with bosses for over 20 years, they face difficulties in goal-setting. Overcoming these challenges is crucial for them. In our conversations, we delved deep into personal or company goals. There’s a reality I observed: while some bosses are pretty sure of their goals, others are still determining the clarity of their goals. Even bosses who seem to have clear goals sometimes fail to provide clear answers to my specific questions, admitting they do not have clear goals. This is the most vital issue for a boss to use company resources effectively—such as capital, human, and intellectual accumulation—while pursuing their goals. 
Another point that caught my attention in my conversations is that some companies have not validated it or have set superficial goals that do not require high performance from management (despite moving towards a goal), thinking, “Things are going well anyway.” Resources are managed much more correctly in companies where goals are clearly set along with their rationales. In such companies, bosses feel more secure about their futures and what they need to do. Therefore, mission and vision work is of critical importance. It’s necessary to determine a company’s reason for existence (mission) and where it wants to go based on this foundation (vision) and then plan how to use resources to reach this vision. I have witnessed that even successful bosses sometimes need to focus more on this issue. This shows that even individuals with successful leadership qualities can face problems that may affect their company’s efficiency and future if they embark without clarifying their goals. I emphasize that effort should be made to clearly define the mission and vision, and as an experienced management consultant, it is very important to clarify the reason for existence and goals and to present their justifications. A clear mission and vision provide a sense of direction and purpose, guiding every decision and action.
If a story that is down to earth and will gather supporters is to be written, this is the place to start.
Decision-making systems are not associated with goals, cause-effect relationships, and operational management, and they are limited to the leader’s skills, preventing the creation of a scalable and future-proof system. Therefore, the importance of up-to-date strategies to achieve goals is significant. Risk management should also be based on the defined goals and strategies. With a goal or plan, it is possible to determine which risks are a priority. Thinking about the details of the journey and potential risks before embarking helps us determine how to manage these risks. This also shows that it is easier to use resources correctly by setting the right goals and being sure about them. When the boss is sure about the path to be followed, they can take more significant risks, but in the face of uncertainties, they hesitate to take substantial steps.
In other words, bosses who navigate this turn with due diligence can rest more comfortably…
Setting a strategy and deciding where to go, in other words, writing the story, is one of the fundamental steps a boss must take while managing their business. This process determines the right direction for the company’s future and is critical in identifying the human resources the business needs. 
“Not knowing what you are looking for means you won’t understand what you find” is a highly relevant saying in this context. It needs to be corrected to identify and hire people with the necessary skills and talents for the business before clarifying the strategy and goals. Before strategic goals are set, bosses often hire people to meet the operational needs of the day. This might solve short-term needs but can fail to reach the business’s long-term strategic goals. When strategy and objectives are clarified, it becomes easier to identify and hire professionals with the competencies and experiences needed for the company. This is crucial in building a team that will support the business’s long-term success. Choosing the right people and forming a team are two of the boss’s most important tasks. This process involves finding individuals compatible with the business’s culture, values, and strategic goals. Finding people who align with the business’s story and future vision and bringing them together to achieve the business’s goals ensures a successful and sustainable future for the company. For example, a technology company’s long-term goal is to become a market leader by developing innovative products. In that case, it must hire professionals experienced in research and development, marketing strategies, and customer relationship management to achieve this goal. This requires finding people who can manage current operations and those with the talent and vision to lead the company to its future objectives. In summary, a successful boss’s ability to set a strategy and decide where they want to go directly affects selecting and hiring team members.
When strategy and goals are clarified, finding and hiring the right people for the business becomes more effective and efficient. This process is one of the fundamental building blocks that support the business’s long-term success and is an area where bosses should carefully focus.
If changes outside the business occur faster, the company’s future is at risk (Jack Welch). Hasn’t this become more apparent today, where technology and industry trends change rapidly? For company founders and managers, keeping up with the pace of change (especially these days) and adapting to it can be challenging. However, they must do this, as it is vital for the business’s long-term success. Bosses must continuously monitor the outside world to keep up with changes and integrate the information obtained from these observations into company strategies. This process should be done at short intervals, and a mechanism should be established within or outside the company to address these issues. This mechanism should examine topics such as technological advancements, industry trends, changes in customer behaviors, and uncertainties in market dynamics and present its findings. Moreover, the boss needs to be open to these changes for themselves and their team to have continuous learning and adaptation abilities and to think about how they will integrate the incoming data into their strategies. 
Effectively monitoring and responding to changes should be a part of the company’s risk management strategy. This can turn potential threats into opportunities and strengthen the company’s position in the market. For instance, a technology company can gain a significant advantage over its competitors and become a market leader by adopting a new technological trend early.
Success is often seen as reaching goals set in the past. However, if the company had not set clear and realistic goals in the past, businesses might tend to progress in a “we are already doing well” mode. This situation makes it difficult for leaders and their teams to assess the quality and requirements of their work objectively. One of the challenges bosses face in the business world is how they define success and establish mechanisms for its sustainability. 
A proper understanding of success requires creating goals set in the past and committed to, which, when achieved, really bring happiness and satisfaction. This allows leaders and their teams to progress towards long-term, sustainable goals rather than just managing the day and attaining instantaneous success. Only in this way can genuinely successful results be produced. Another critical point is the establishment of an accountability mechanism. With a transparent accountability system for work performance and goal achievement, leaders and teams can objectively assess where they stand and whether they have achieved their goals. This means not only when there are irregularities or issues but also that the company should continually evaluate the daily work performance and the process of achieving strategic goals. The accountability mechanism should have an independent structure that allows a boss to evaluate their performance and the company’s overall success. This structure should enable the leader to assess their decisions and strategies objectively and question whether company resources are being used effectively towards set goals. It also helps the team in the company to determine whether they have achieved the set goals and whether they should consider themselves successful or unsuccessful in this context.
Companies need to establish an accountability mechanism where leaders and teams can set realistic and achievable goals and continually assess their performance towards these goals. This mechanism promotes not only current successes but also long-term sustainable success. For leaders, this is an essential step towards overcoming obstacles like ego and the sense of achievement to create a proper understanding of success and a sustainable business.
Insights into the importance of diversity in management boards (the decision mechanisms of companies) are critical issues frequently encountered in the business world and need attention. Diversity enriches decision-making processes by bringing together different perspectives, experiences, and ideas, paving the way for innovative solutions. Limiting the mechanisms through which decisions are made to a particular age group, gender, or thought process carries the risk of evaluating events from a narrow perspective. This could limit businesses’ ability to adapt to changing world conditions and market dynamics. Efforts to increase diversity encourage the inclusion of youth and other underrepresented groups in company decision mechanisms. This leverages perspectives from different generations and communities and allows these individuals to form a deeper connection and sense of belonging to the business. The start of young members expressing their ideas, generating their preferences, and what should be done enriches the decision mechanism with a broader perspective and enhances strategies for the future. Representing different generations, genders, and thought processes minimizes the risks that decision mechanisms might face while helping the company better connect with its market and customer base. This diversity makes the company more inclusive, responsive, and competitive.
Efforts to increase diversity in management boards are an ethical requirement and a strategic advantage for businesses.
Leveraging different perspectives helps businesses better adapt to changing world conditions, generate innovative solutions, and achieve long-term success. Therefore, management boards should play a crucial role in embracing diversity to shape the present and future of businesses.
Disclaimer: Some of the content and images on this page have been produced or developed using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. AI has been trained within the framework of the intended subject before creating content to ensure accuracy and relevance in the generated text. Even though AI interpretations may not always accurately represent real-world scenarios or truths, readers should know that the published articles have been approved through the editorial perspective of Orhan Erkut. Please consider this information when interacting with the content and images on the site. Click here for detailed information.
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