What are the signs your boss cares about you? How do you know if he’s interested in your professional development and invested in your progress?
Well, these signs below will give you all the answers you need!
Signs Your Boss Cares About You
How to tell if your boss likes you: Of course, I’m not talking about liking you in a romantic way or wanting to sleep with you – I mean appreciating you as an employee and liking you as a person!
1. Encourages your career growth
One of the surefire signs your boss cares about you can be seen through how he always pushes you forward to become better at what you do. Of course, they won’t appear out of the blue and give you a promotion you didn’t work for.
However, he will direct you on the path towards earning that promotion. A good boss encourages your career growth.
He is not intimidated by your potential progress. On the contrary, he looks forward to it as much as you do.
This person is not only occupied with the company’s progress. He wants you to move forward together with the company.
Would your growth mean that they would no longer be your superior? Would your promotion put you two in the same position in the company’s hierarchy?
Probably yes. Nevertheless, this man is anything but egocentric. He gives you a chance for professional development despite all of this.
2. Gives you validation
A bad boss would never give you validation. He would never compliment you, tell you that you did a good job on that important project, or compliment your teamwork skills.
On the contrary, he would keep looking for flaws and imperfections in everything you do.
Don’t get me wrong – a good boss won’t praise you when you don’t deserve it either. That wouldn’t be unfair to other employees, but it would also be unfair to you.
You would think that you’re doing a great job and that your work ethic is spotless. Consequently, you would continue behaving in the same manner, thinking that you’re making progress.
But your boss doesn’t do this. He gives you validation when you earn it. He makes sure you feel worthy, and he wants you to be aware of how much he appreciates you and everything you’re doing for the company.
3. Praises you in front of others
How do you know that you have a good boss? Well, they are someone who praises your good work in front of others, especially in front of your superiors.
Of course, he’s not too obvious about it. After all, the last thing you want is to make others jealous. You don’t want your colleagues to accuse him of having favorites and treating you better than everyone else.
Even if he cares about you the most, he must keep things professional and manage all of his staff in an equal manner.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t prevent him from using every chance he gets to talk about your amazing skill set. This is one of the obvious signs your boss cares about you.
4. But criticizes you in private
Of course, not everything you do is perfect. After all, you’re just a human being and not a machine.
It’s perfectly natural that you make a mistake once in a while. And while you think that your boss would be great if he pretended he didn’t see it and let it slide, that is absolutely wrong.
That would mean that he is enabling your bad behavior, and he knows that would never contribute to your professional development.
Constructive criticism
Yes, he criticizes you, but he’s always a constructive critic. He’ll never yell at you just because someone else annoyed him or because he got up on the wrong side of the bed.
He’ll tell you where and when you made a mistake, why it was a wrong move, what impact it had on the company, and most importantly, give you advice on how not to make the same mistakes again.
Let’s be honest. You don’t like receiving this criticism. After all, who does?
However, it’s easier for you to understand his point of view when he explains everything in detail like this. Besides, you know he’s doing it all for your own good.
And, of course, sometimes he’s testing you to see how you’ll react to his criticism. Will you make things right, or will you take it personally?
5. Respects your work-life balance
As much as you love your career, you know that life isn’t all about work. Being too obsessed with your professional growth and disregarding your personal life can greatly impact your mental health.
And your boss is aware of this. He appreciates you as his employee but respects your work-life balance.
One of the signs your boss cares about you is that he never calls you after hours. He never expects you to work overtime without getting paid for it.
He understands that this is your job – nothing more than that – and he most certainly doesn’t expect the company to be the center of your universe.
Besides, the last thing he wants is to over-burden you. He knows that you’ll perform better at work if you have enough time to rest and forget about your job responsibilities.
He might not tell you this, but trust me – he takes care of your personal development as well. Once again, you’re a human being, and that’s how he perceives you. He doesn’t see you as a source of unlimited work.
6. Gives you credit
The worst type of boss is one who takes all the credit for the things his entire team has succeeded in doing. Yes, he was probably the leader, and he likely initiated the entire thing.
However, it’s not fair to take all the credit because he most certainly didn’t do all the work on his own.
Luckily, your boss is not like that. He gives you credit every time you do something.
He can’t wait to tell your supervisors that you’ve learned a new skill so they can eventually see you as a candidate for promotion or a raise.
And you know what the best part is? It’s that you don’t even have to be present for him to give you credit. You don’t have to remind him to do so – it’s part of his work ethic and another thing that makes him an exceptional human being.
7. Trusts you
When your boss trusts you, you know that he appreciates and respects your work. First of all, he believes in your judgment-making skills.
He doesn’t have to check everything you do, and he most certainly doesn’t have to clean up after your mess. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’re flawless and that you’ll never make a mistake.
However, he trusts you enough to know that you’ll notice your mistakes and correct them along the way.
Don’t get me wrong – you still require some kind of supervision. After all, he is your boss, and it’s his job to oversee everything you do.
Nevertheless, just imagine the amount of trust he has in you when he lets you do most of the work by yourself. He’s not doing it because he’s lazy or wants to avoid doing his job.
Remember that everything you do is his responsibility. So if you make a mistake, it lands on him.
But despite that, he gives you autonomy and freedom. Just imagine how much he trusts you.
8. Your effort is rewarded
Everything you do for the company doesn’t go unnoticed. You may think that your boss isn’t paying attention to everything you do, but trust me, you couldn’t be more wrong.
After all, do you think that all of that praise and those compliments were in vain? Every single effort you make is and will be rewarded.
And I’m not talking about your boss telling you “good work” or something like that. Even though this is also great to hear, he makes sure you get a bonus, a raise, or a promotion whenever he sees that you deserve it.
Don’t worry – he’s not giving you anything on a silver platter. You deserved everything you’ve gotten, and you should be proud of yourself!
9. Gives you new opportunities
One of the hardest things in every business is opening new doors. Let’s be straight – you don’t need anyone to give you a raise or a promotion just because they like you.
However, having someone present you with new opportunities means the world. And that person is your boss.
Is there a new educational course or training available? Is there a chance for you to get some mentoring?
He’ll make sure you get it – because you’re the one who deserves it the most. What you’ll do with your newly acquired knowledge and skillset is up to you.
Nevertheless, you should appreciate these opportunities and make sure not to disappoint your boss.
10. Listens to your opinion
One of the signs your boss cares about you is that he listens to what you have to say. He consults you on important decisions and asks for your advice.
Of course, he’s still the one making the final call, but if you’re being honest, your opinion is always taken into consideration.
If you complain to him about something, he won’t just shake it off. Instead, he’ll look into the problem and see what he can do to help you out.
To him, you’re more than just an employee. He sees you as his right hand and someone he could never make it work without!
11. Cares about you personally
One of the biggest signs your boss cares about you is that he does everything in his power to make your work environment as pleasant and comfortable as possible. This person is genuinely interested in how you feel – not only how well you do your job.
But his concern doesn’t end here. He also cares about you personally.
No, I’m not talking about him being in love with you. But the truth is that you’re more than coworkers.
With time, you two have become friends. I’m not saying that you’ll go on vacation together, but it’s not unusual to exchange birthday gifts, know each other’s family members’ names or catch up about your lives every now and then.
After all, you spend so much time together daily. It’s perfectly normal that you care about each other’s mental health, well-being, and other needs.
12. One-On-One Meetings
Do you have a lot of one-on-one meetings? Well, that’s for a reason. Use these meetings as a learning point and take good advantage of them.
You must keep in mind that your boss is extremely busy. And if he finds time to mentor you and teach you something new, it means that he cares deeply about your progress.
13. Doesn’t have an ego problem
A good boss doesn’t have an ego problem. He apologizes when he’s done something wrong and admits when you were right, even if it means he was wrong.
Your supervisor knows that this is not a competition. He is not here to show you that he’s better than you and that you could never rise to his level.
He sees himself as your mentor. You becoming more successful than him wouldn’t crush his ego. Instead, it would make him proud!
14. Putting you in charge when he’s not around
Maybe you’re not your boss’s deputy on paper, but you’re definitely the one in charge of his duties when he’s absent. At first, you probably weren’t that happy about all of your new responsibilities – as if you didn’t have enough work to do yourself.
However, now you realize that this is actually a great thing. What if your boss gets a promotion? Who do you think will fill in for him?
That’s right – this kind of training opens many doors for you.
And the best part is that he doesn’t check in with you all the time when he’s away. No, this is not because he doesn’t care about you.
He behaves like this because he’s totally relaxed and knows that you’ve got everything covered.
To Wrap Up:
Don’t take these signs that your boss cares about you for granted. They’re not a free pass to goof off or shirk your duties.
On the contrary, they carry a lot of responsibility. Let them serve as a reminder to always perform at your best.
