Bad bosses aren’t necessarily bad people. They might be people who execute their roles wrongly or are in the wrong role all together. Same as the bullies you survived in high school, bad bosses too derive their strength from those who cow in.
He walks into the office and the chatter that had filled the air fades away leaving the atmosphere tense. Walks past the invisible you to his office without any greetings only to call you in moments later; just like most of the days you leave his office feeling demoralized, not even a pat on the back for working late the previous day just to submit that assignment before the deadline. This happens to be one of those days when you find yourself contemplating on quitting your job, not because you hate the job but because of your manager. You are not alone.
This is the scenario in organizations where you’ll find disgruntled employees who have a disconnect with their leaders who are bosses instead. Such bosses have no particular profile but certain characteristics. For example;
1. Micromanaging - he/she dictates the emails you write word by word or worse creates a duty roster for washing the office cups.
2. The super-mean boss - not only does he not believe in making mistakes but would scold you in front of anyone regardless.
3. The unrealistic boss - he/she will always come up with ideas and expects you to implement them within unrealistic deadlines and still fulfil your other duties e.t.c.
Bad bosses aren’t necessarily bad people. They might be people who execute their roles wrongly or are in the wrong role all together. Same as the bullies you survived in high school, bad bosses too derive their strength from those who cow in. Instead of struggling to put up with the demeaning behaviour, it’s wise to try and find out what motivates your bad boss to act the way he/ she does since some act the way they do unknowingly. In doing so, you will be in a better position to know how to handle him either by anticipating his moves or meeting his expectations. Alternatively, he can be approached on a personal level (he is human too) and made to see the impact of his behaviour. You can tag along one of your colleagues for moral support if need be and for the conversation not to be awkward. This is better than confronting him publicly.
As the bad boss, do you know that your employees have a right to a professional environment at the workplace? Or that your leadership style has a huge impact on your team? Those who have several years of work experience will bear me witness that not all of their employers or supervisors for that matter, were bosses and leaders at the same time. Leaders tend to develop those who work under them and in the long run empower them. What’s the point of hiring smart people if you can’t let them make decisions autonomously anyway? Or at least let them appreciate and learn from their mistakes. Work environment constitutes of various factors and most importantly the atmosphere created by the boss himself. Employees who are always criticized or publicly humiliated tend to feel intimidated and may end up losing their self esteem or worse succumb to resentment thus quit from work. Another reason to prove people quit bad bosses and not their jobs.
You may be following in the footsteps of a boss or someone you regard as being a successful leader but his leadership style may not work for you. If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to develop your own leadership style that will suit the different organizations you’ll work for. Be open to feedback from your subordinates and learn to compliment those who you interact with in order to inspire them and give them a reason to wake up early for work every day. At the end of the day, it’s people who make companies successful.
