Looking back, I can see that I never really set my employees up for success. During my stint as a nightmare boss, I had an amazing team; I just wasn't an amazing leader. I wanted them to produce perfection (or what I considered perfection) without guiding them in how to do so. I struggled with articulating my vision for their roles and setting expectations.

in this creative industry, some things simply can't be learned. You either have the talent — as a copywriter, a designer or a media relations guru, for example — or you don't.

That's not to say skills can't be honed, but it's essential to learn what people's strengths are instead of what you'd like them to be. And who knows? Even if they aren't a fit for that particular job, they may be perfect for another role on your team.

My PR agency is much stronger with a team that feels comfortable sharing ideas, no matter how off-the-wall, and letting me know when something isn't working or when they have a better solution.

For example, I've been trying to set and streamline operational standards for more efficiency, but having more of a content-oriented brain, organization and I are not the best of friends. This is not true of others on my team who are strong in that area and in the new project management tools we're implementing.

So, while I'm leading the charge, others are attending to process details. Not only will this produce better results, but my staff will also take more ownership in use of the software.

Things move fast in my industry and probably in yours — when growing a business, we always want to say yes to the client.

But we need to learn to say "no" when doing so protects our team. Sure, there are times when an immediate turnaround is necessary, or we want to overdeliver to grow the relationship, but setting boundaries with clients and keeping expectations for staff realistic will go a long way toward bridging the gap between a not-so-great boss and a great one.