Am I too Nice of a Boss?

Recently I came across an article about being a "nice" boss. Check out the article here if you are interested. I have often thought about this, in higher ed and more specifically Residence Life, I feel like there are lots of nice bosses. You can spot a ResLifer a mile away- they are the people introducing themselves before the meeting starts with interesting conversation starters. They then turn to the side to include the person next to them, "Hello there, I just met Jan and she has a beta fish in a stinky cage! How do you feel about pets?" They are classic includers, whether they are introverts or extroverts, they are a pro a working a room. 

When you think about the ResLifers who are supervisors you think of brag boards, staff squishies, buckets of love, traveling trophies, and things that are warm and fuzzy in a staff meeting. We come from experiences where each conduct meeting started with a conversation about Johnny's recent football win and his collie from home and end with him thanking you and shaking your hand. Lots of pleasantries can be found in all of these exchanges that have shaped us into supervisors. That is one of my favorite parts of working in the field! It is easy to mistake they warm and fuzzy parts as being too nice. It is easy to assume that there is a lot of positive reinforcement and maybe a lack in the constructive criticism department. 

Thinking about the Residence Life professional deep down inside and reading this article has made me question whether I am sufficiently challenging as a supervisor. Do I spend too much time talking about the things that are going well and gloss over the parts that are hard? Do I spend enough time pushing them to do better by sharing my disappointment with the status quo? I am worried about rocking the boat and making waves and those fears cause me to take less risks or advocate for less change at work? Do I steer conversation away from topics that are difficult to discuss or difficult to change in order to stop my staff members from brainstorming ways to make their jobs better?

No, I am not too nice. Sure, there are ideas and topics that I realize are not possible within the scope of what my department and its limited resources has the ability to change. But I encourage big picture thinking and brainstorming- I like to encourage the type of thinking that results in changes or programs that we have the ability to change. I do think that I push my staff to be better residence hall directors, better people, and ultimately better professionals at their next jobs. I share constructive criticism and feedback about events, programs, and ideas without dashing hopes or crushing spirits. I welcome all sorts of hard conversations (as long as they are coupled with possible solutions) for making things or people work better in our department. I do all of this within that touchy feeling environment of ResLife that I am comfortable operating in.

I like being a nice boss. I might change my evaluation for this semester to reflect some of the thoughts in this article just to be sure, but I think I am just right in the nice department.