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Seven Signs of a Bad Boss
Seven Signs of a Bad Boss
By Theo Gilbert-Jamison
It's tough enough to be working in a weak economy with the threat of job losses and unfettered cost-cutting measures. However, top it off with working for a Bad Boss, and you may have a recipe for professional disaster. You see, they negatively impact the work environment by fostering high levels of employee frustration, stress, resentment, and eventually high labor turnover throughout the company. There are seven signs of a Bad Boss, as you review them take a minute to assess both your effectiveness and ineffectiveness as a leader. Honestly, how often do you fall prey to these seven signs? Bad bosses:
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Have No Clear Goals. If your team has no clue of the goals or expectations they should be working towards, this may be a weak area for you. In such cases, there are either no goals at all; the goals are unrealistic; or they are unclear to the team. This leads your team to believe that either their boss doesn't know what they are doing, doesn't care, or doesn't want them to be in the loop.
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Deliver Poor or No Communication. These are the silent types, who revel in their team not knowing what they are thinking. Bad Bosses don't feel it necessary to communicate how the company is doing, nor how employees are performing in their jobs. They just don't communicate, and rarely show any emotion - good or bad.
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Hold No One Accountable. When there is no communication of team standards or goals, Bad Bosses really can't hold anyone accountable for excellence or even mediocre job performance. They are apt turn a blind eye, allowing rampant compromise throughout the workplace - and in spite of their lack of accountability, they are not approachable and some employees even fear them.
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Often Blames Others. When things don't go as they planned or expected, Bad Bosses are quick to point fingers at everyone except themselves - especially when their team doesn't perform up to par. While self-accountability is out of the question, they find it easy to blame inefficient work systems, processes, and staff members (all within their sphere of control) for their inability to meet company-wide goals and performance standards.
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Have No Strategy for Improvement or Team Success. Stubbornly believing that strategizing is a waste of time, they just don't bother with it. Bad Bosses have a false belief that they are doing fine as is; and because often the powers that be (senior leaders and board members) don't hold them accountable for positive change, things remain in a constant state of confusion for both customers and employees.
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Never Delegate. To mask their fear of employee empowerment, Bad Bosses fail to properly train and delegate challenging tasks to their team members. They are cynical when it comes to their team, and don't feel that anyone has the intellect or capacity to perform their job satisfactorily. Therefore, the team remains stagnant and virtually paralyzed in the absence of leadership.
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Don't Mentor Others. To them, training and development of staff, and mentoring is a waste of time. They often say, "No one ever mentored or developed me and I turned out alright." Bad Bosses have no concept of how to synergistically collaborate with their team to help them grow and excel in their jobs. Unfortunately, Bad Bosses practice "tough love" when it comes to on-the-job training.
Now take a minute and assess your current workplace. How many of these poor leadership behaviors do you or your leaders regularly exhibit? When you are treated like this, how does it make you feel? If this information has helped you surfaced some of your blind spots, now is a good time to make a change an order to increase your effectiveness as a leader. Bottom-line, while Bad Bosses negatively impact the work environment by fostering high levels of employee frustration, stress, resentment, and unnecessary labor turnover - there are simple things that every leader can do to improve the work environment and drive excellence. It just takes a little commitment! Theo Gilbert-Jamison is CEO of Performance Solutions by Design, a global performance consulting firm that caters to luxury and premium brands with an emphasis on transforming organizational culture. She is also the author of two books, The Six Principles of Service Excellence (2005), and The Leadership Book of Numbers, Volume I (2008). As the creative force behind Performance Solutions by Design, Theo is a highly sought after speaker and consultant to CEOs and senior executives in high profile organizations.
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