October 16th marked National Boss’s Day, a time to celebrate your leader, if they are worthy of the praise. Being a good boss isn’t easy so when someone gets it right, why not take time to show appreciation. I recently moderated a panel at the Revolt Music Conference in Miami with some of the top publicists in the industry, all of whom are bosses (and many of whom own businesses). My beauty writer, Mabel Martinez, pointed out it would be the perfect opportunity to collect words of wisdom from these all-stars about what it takes to be a great boss. Now that I run my own business, I’ve learned to value even more some of the best advice my father gave me many years ago when I was deciding whether or not to accept a position where I would be in charge of a huge team. “If you can’t put yourself last and put your team first, don’t take the job,” my dad said. Here’s additional insight from bosses who are at the top of their game:
“I find that too often bosses feel the need to be superior and rule from a place of fear. That could not work for me. I am confident that with success you need to learn how to be kind as well and treat others the way you’d like to be treated. You should empower your staff to have open dialogue and free exchange of ideas.” – Yvette Noel-Schure, EVP of Media at Schure Media Group
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“I hold these P’s as essential to my personal success in life and in business. Be patient. Be persistent. Be passionate and then add kindness to the mix. It has served me well.” – Yvette Noel-Schure, EVP of Media at Schure Media Group
“I think you have to really learn your craft. You have to do every job because you can’t tell someone what to do unless you know how to do it. I think you have to have patience because it doesn’t come overnight. Your time will come when you are ready. There is no rush to the finish line. My best advice is to work hard. Do the work and you will get there.” – Natalie Moar, SVP, Head of Communications, Combs Enterprises
“Come in early. Leave late. There is no job you should not know how to do. If you don’t know how to do it, ask.” – Cindi Berger, CEO of PMK BNC
“Continue to work hard. Work with passion and perseverance. Know that anything worth having is worth working hard for. Don’t think that just because you hit a bump in the road, or things are not happening at the rate you want them to, that it’s not going to happen. It won’t happen if you stop. If you continue to work hard, it will happen for you. It won’t the minute you stop so continue to work hard.” – Courtney Lowery, Vice President of Publicity, Epic Records
“Truly understand that you have to sacrifice in the beginning. I still was eating ramen noodles for years after college because I knew I was going to sacrifice and not be able to go on vacations with my friends, couldn’t get fly clothes. I was wearing whatever. I knew I had to sacrifice because later on I could get what I really need and what I want. I was a history major. I wanted to be a history teacher. Even though I knew how to wright and knew I could do the job well, knowing a business is a whole other hat. Take Ascension classes if you can . . even if it’s just intro to business, or intro to accounting. I couldn’t afford an accountant. I couldn’t afford a lawyer, so I really relied on my network. I said, ‘I’m going to take this $150 class to learn how to really budget, manage my money and be a better manager of people.’” – Vanessa Anderson, Owner, AM PR Group
“You have to decide who you want to work with. At the end of the day, they are a reflection of what you are trying to grow your business to be. It has to be a balance. You can’t work anyone who doesn’t represent who you are.” – Phylicia Fant, SVP of PR at Warner