5 bad boss behaviors that must die

icon1 Posted by denised in Featured Articles on 02 15th, 2010 | 8 responses

Inspired by Liz Ryan’s recent Business Week article “10 Management Practices to Axe”, I’ve come up with my own list of 5 ridiculous bad boss behaviors I’ve personally encountered, that should die a quick and painful death.

1. Not communicating effectively – O.k., so we know we can’t be trusted with the confidential, top secret, magical corporate plans, but if the entire office is abuzz about something that everyone suspects is about to take place, the responsible thing to do is to have a conversation with your employees – one that involves some semblance of the truth. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve sat in with top management reassuring everyone that their jobs were safe, only to watch the very same management team drop kick key players just days after the declaration. We’re not saying you’ve got to let us in on the secret family recipe, but not talking at all, or talking but lying for that matter, fosters an environment of paranoia and mistrust.

2. Employing ‘Big Brother’ tactics – If you do a good job in the recruitment and hiring process, why watch your employees like a hawk? Excessive time checking, micromanaging and spying on employees actually reduces productivity in the long run. Employees that feel they can’t be trusted to do their jobs turn into employees that can’t be trusted to do their jobs.

3. Different rules for the rest of us – If workers are required to get to work on time and aren’t allowed to spend the day shopping on Ebay, poking people on Facebook and tweeting tweople on Twitter, then management shouldn’t be doing it either. Allowing two sets of rules fosters resentment and places an even greater wedge between bosses and employees. Yes, many managers have earned the right to some perks, but a lack of productivity shouldn’t be one of them.

4. The blame game – From the largest of organizations to small family owned businesses, I’ve seen it all too often. Something goes wrong, sometimes drastically wrong, and management is all too ready to blame the little guy, often reverting to lying in the process. A leader who won’t or can’t take responsibility for his own actions or the actions of his or her team is no leader.

5. Failing to recognize and reward a job well done – I once single handedly completed a project that resulted in our division winning its first award ever. Not even as she pushed me aside to run on stage to receive the award did my boss acknowledge the work I’d put into the project. Instead, she ran on stage, grabbed the trophy and promptly placed it on the shelf in her office upon her return. The quickest way to ensure an employee stops giving 110% is failing to acknowledge that they have.

What other bad boss behaviors should die a quick and painful death? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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  • Shabooties

    Name dropping as in “I have the CEO's ear so do what I want now!” when in reality, if we did that, we would all be toast.

  • Rick Highsmith

    I believe Mr. Steadiman's comments have more bark than bite.

  • http://reallybadboss.com denised2

    Thanks for your comments, and let me address them one by one – 1)If you've got employees that spend too much time gossiping and not focusing on the task at hand, then you've done a bad job as a manager hiring great employees. I agree, companies can't tell employees everything, but overly lying to them fosters mistrust and fear. 2) Real bosses don't trust HR?? WTH? What's the purpose of an HR department then? And, again, if you don't trust HR, then someone's done a bad job in hiring and staffing the HR dept. 3) Real bosses are big thinkers and great employees admire that and the time and dedication it takes to do that. At issue here are bosses – of whom I've worked for several – who spend their days shopping on Ebay and talking to friends on the phone – there's nothing productive about that. And as for issue 5) who said anything about rewarding “every little thing” and employee does? When an employee does a great job on a project, or meets a tight deadline, a good manager will recognize that. What that results in is improved morale and employee willing to go the extra mile the next time. Forgive me if I'm wrong Steele, but it seems to me that you're on the side of excusing bad boss behavior. But, thanks for sharing your point of view!

  • Rick Highsmith

    I believe Mr. Steadiman's comments have more bark than bite.

  • http://reallybadboss.com denised2

    Thanks for your comments, and let me address them one by one – 1)If you've got employees that spend too much time gossiping and not focusing on the task at hand, then you've done a bad job as a manager hiring great employees. I agree, companies can't tell employees everything, but overly lying to them fosters mistrust and fear. 2) Real bosses don't trust HR?? WTH? What's the purpose of an HR department then? And, again, if you don't trust HR, then someone's done a bad job in hiring and staffing the HR dept. 3) Real bosses are big thinkers and great employees admire that and the time and dedication it takes to do that. At issue here are bosses – of whom I've worked for several – who spend their days shopping on Ebay and talking to friends on the phone – there's nothing productive about that. And as for issue 5) who said anything about rewarding “every little thing” and employee does? When an employee does a great job on a project, or meets a tight deadline, a good manager will recognize that. What that results in is improved morale and employee willing to go the extra mile the next time. Forgive me if I'm wrong Steele, but it seems to me that you're on the side of excusing bad boss behavior. But, thanks for sharing your point of view!

  • Steele_Steadiman

    This article is bad for Bosses everywhere. Let me respond to each point individually. 1) Many employees spend too much time gossiping and not enough time focused on the task at hand. Too much information provided by company officials feeds the galloping gossamer of gossip. 2) Many employees can't be trusted by their Boss. Real bosses don't trust HR to do a good job hiring anyway. 3) Most employees don't have the Big Picture and mistakenly label time spent planning and/or thinking proactively as lack of productivity. 4) You are correct a leader who won't take responsibility for mistakes is not a leader… he/she is a Boss! 5) Nobody likes a cheerleader. Besides if a Boss spends time rewarding every little thing an employee does, everybody will expect the same treatment.

  • http://www.glynlumley.co.uk/ Glyn Lumley

    Thinking that organisational performance comes from the best efforts of individual workers and holding each and every one accountable for failures

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