Boss: Definition and additional resources from BNET
On TechRepublic: 19 words you don't want in your resume

BNET Business Dictionary

Business Definition for: Boss

  • the person in charge of a job, process, department, or organization, more formally known as a manager or supervisor

Wiktionary Definition for: Boss

  • slang of excellent quality, first-rate
  • A person in charge of a business or company.
  • Ex:* Chat turned to whisper when the '''boss''' entered the conference room.
  • A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
  • Ex:* My '''boss''' complains that I'm always late to work.
  • A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
  • Ex:* They named him '''boss''' because he had good leadership skills.
  • The head of a political party in a given region or district.
  • Ex:* He is the Republican '''boss''' in Kentucky.
  • context mechanical A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
  • architecture A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
  • To exercise authoritative control; to lord over; to boss around; to tell someone what to do, often repeatedly.
  • Ex:* You aren't my father. You can't '''boss''' me around!.
  • rare To decorate with bosses; to emboss.

Additional Resources

Manage Your Boss By Becoming An Efficient Assistant
The boss should always retain broader management duties such as overall planning, policymaking, goal-setting, and budget supervision, as well as work that involves confidential information or supervisor-subordinate relations. The assistant is the one who really knows what's going on. Seek to expand your role and power base in the organization...
Tags: Operational planning, Microsoft Corp., goal-setting
White papers
What's the Best Way to Calm a Grumpy Boss?
What's the Best Way to Calm a Grumpy Boss?Seriously?I love the part that says "Ask your boss what is troubling her." Nice assumption that it is a woman. Do people seriously never learn?Seriously!Well, that was the author's pronoun, not mine, but... If he had said, "Find out what's troubling...
Tags: Grumpy Boss
Discussion threads 2007-10-24
What is the Origin of the Word "Boss"?
My fellow bloggers over at BNET Intercom have revealed some fun facts about National Boss Day (which is today, by the way, lest you forget to buy your boss a box of chocolates or a bottle of the finest cabernet). Few of us, however, know the origins of the word...
Tags: Microsoft Word, Jonathan Haeber
Blog posts 2007-10-16
When Should You Take Down Your Boss?
When Should You Take Down Your Boss?When you Should Take down Your BossWe are all guilty of this at some point in our career. But and it is a BIG BUT..it is corrosive and undermining to him/her and the organization. The "takedown" almost always invloves an ulterior motive...
Tags: Take Down
Discussion threads 2008-03-03
Set A Schedule And Stick To It
To assist yourself in becoming more productive and eventually more successful, it is important that you learn to be a good boss. A good boss provides detailed expectations for his employees. Since you are now your own boss, it is up to you to provide this structure for yourself. Treat...
Tags: time management, career
White papers 2006-05-30
How Do You Tell The Boss He's Wrong?
How do you tell your boss he or she is wrong? The short answer: very carefully. The old adage about picking your battles to win the war still holds. Whether you're a senior vice president disagreeing with the chief executive, or a junior associate differing with an immediate supervisor, the...
Tags: Workforce management, Microsoft Corp., supervisor, strategy
White papers
10 Things You Should Never Say To The Boss
Somewhere between winning the lottery and hearing your name called on "The Price is Right" is that other common fantasy: Telling off your boss. While telling your manager what he or she can really do with that quarterly report is tempting, you'd like to keep your job. Still, you may...
Tags: Recruitment & Selection, job
White papers 2007-10-03
How to Create a Data-Driven Boss
How to Create a Data-Driven BossHow to Create a Data-Driven BossExcellent message. Although situated for the web industry, the guidance is just as appropriate for engineering and service firms.
Tags: Channel management, Data-Driven Boss
Discussion threads 2007-10-26
Useful Commute: How to Cope with a Bad Boss
Is your manager making you unhappy in your job? Learn some strategies that will help you deal with a bad or ineffective boss. by BNET staff
Tags: BNET staff
Blog posts 2007-12-03
Can a Crackhead Win at Sales?
Give up on the idea that you're going to convince your boss that his son is shouldn't be working there. Your boss is an enabler, and is blind to his son's faults. The only thing that you can do in this case is to get your customers...
Tags: Boss, Sales Strategy, Professional Development, E-mail, Sales Force Management, Sales, Career, Online Communications, Geoffrey James
Blog posts 2008-07-25
Ask the Bad Boss
Need help managing your manager? Try the techniques in BNET's Tame Your Boss to master the proper care and feeding of your most important professional relationship. by BNET staff
Tags: PRODUCTIVITY, BNET staff
Blog posts 2007-04-23
Tame Your Boss
Need help managing your manager? Try these techniques to master the proper care and feeding of your most important professional relationship.Sure you're good at your job, but do you know the fine art of upward management? If you really want to do well at work, you need our step-by-step guide...
Tags: Boss, Professional Development, Productivity, Corporate Communications, Recruitment & Selection, Career, Marketing, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Andrew Mager, BNET Feature Package
Articles 2008-02-19
Managing the Challenging Boss
Challenging bosses also lack skill and tact when addressing their employees' emotions; thus, they end up creating additional problems on top of not understanding their employees' emotions Bosses who have low Emotional Intelligence require employees who are able to set boundaries, set limits, and provide them with direction and structure....
Tags: emotional intelligence
White papers 2001-01-01
How to Suffer a Micromanaging Boss
How to Suffer a Micromanaging BossSay what?[i]Micromanaging can be an effective practice for a high-level boss; but, like most everything, it must have limits. On the surface, a boss who is involved in all aspects of the company is better than an absentee boss on the golf course.[/i]Yeah, and it's...
Tags: Gender and diversity, Micromanagement
Discussion threads 2007-09-21
Dealing with a Difficult Boss
Do you have a difficult or challenging relationship with your boss? You are not alone. Of all the less-than-perfect interactions you may have at work, this will probably be the trickiest and most stressful because of the inherent political dynamic of your relationship.
Tags: boss, business
Articles 2007-02-01
How to Succeed With Your New Boss
This adage will always stand true: Managing up is as important as managing down. That's especially true when one is starting a relationship with a new boss. HBS professor Michael Watkins discusses the importance of clearly defining goals with one's superior.
Tags: Harvard Knowledgebase
White papers 2002-06-03
Real Hourly Wage Calculator
So your boss told you that you were getting paid $10 an hour? Don't believe it! This tool will show you how much you're really profiting (after-tax, after work-related-expense take-home) from each hour you devote to working - both paid and unpaid. But wait! Before you approach your boss with...
Tags: payroll solutions, Benefits, tool
Tools & templates 2008-01-01
Meet and Learn to Love the New Boss
Imagine that your department is running smoothly. Priorities are in order, targets are being met and everything is running smoothly. You take a well-earned vacation. But on your return, you discover that there has been a management shuffle, and you have a new boss. How you react to this...
Tags: International Data Group
White papers 2004-01-15
Tales from the Firing Line
Tales from the Firing Linefiring employees1-what is your opnion regarding a bad manager trying to depress his employee and drive him crazy.2-he is not fair with his employee3-he is liarhow could you deal with him?please tell memohsamhef@yahoo.comFiringsThe terms fired, terminated, downsized, etc, are different but equal ways of reducing employees....
Tags: firing, BAD BOSS
Discussion threads 2007-03-27
Understaffed and Overworked: What Now?
When resources are scarce, you need a plan for managing your career, your team, and even your boss. Here's what works: balance, focus, and effective communication. A well thought out plan for managing yourself, your team, and even your boss through these tough times will not only help you address...
Tags: Team management, Harvard Knowledgebase, team, career
White papers 2003-07-14