The Boss Lady

Bill Lumburg

The whole idea behind this Start Your Own Business thing that I did a few years back was not to have a boss.

I mean, who really likes their boss anyway? All of the bosses in my life have always been, well, really bossy.

So when I started my Garden Design business, I was very happy to leave behind the world where I was an underling, guided only by the demands of someone who may or may not have been smarter than me.

But now something bad has happened. I had to get some people to help me with my business because it got too big and now I'm a boss.

I think I am really bad at it though. I am so afraid people will think I am the kind of bossy boss I used to hate that my ad in the newspaper for helpers read:

Gardeners needed for local landscaping company.
Great pay.
Nice boss.

I think everyone is looking for a nice boss, because about 200 people responded to that ad.

Now that I am a boss, I say things like: "get to it when you can," and "whatever you think looks nice."

I am noticing a confused look on the faces of my helpers like they are thinking:

"A little direction here would be nice."

So this week I gave the boss thing a try. I left a location where I was supposed to meet one of my helpers when she was 10 minutes late and made her find her way to the job on her own.

I even stopped by a job to check and make sure it was done properly and then made my helper go back and clean up a mess she had left behind.

But it hurt me to be so mean like that. It really did. I'm just not cut out to be the boss.