Four Things I Wish Bad Bosses Would Do
65% of the workforce would choose a new boss over a raise.*
Bad bosses:
- Focus on problems.
- Treat people like tools.
- Know it all.
- Isolate themselves.
- Can’t make decisions.
- Need the spotlight.
- Never say thank you.
- Don’t listen.
- Fix people.
- Distrust.
See Facebook for insight from readers on bad bosses.
I wish bad bosses would:
#1. Practice humility.
- Work on themselves first and most.
- Honor the strengths of others, even when others have weaknesses.
- Express gratitude. Get up from the chair. Walk around and say thank you to people.
- Doubt themselves enough to explore options, but not so much that you’re paralyzed.
- Smile at people. Don’t be so serious.
#2. Open up.
- Expose good intentions. Let people know what they’re really trying to accomplish in positive terms. Bad bosses are so busy focusing on problems and fixing things that they forget the good they’re trying to accomplish.
- Ask about employee interests, children, or spouse.
- Explore successes.
- Be real. A fake boss makes people feel they don’t matter.
#3. Listen.
- Schedule a thirty minute – “no agenda” – meeting twice a month with direct reports. Let them set the agenda. Ask questions. Learn about people.
- Take direct reports to lunch, once a quarter.
- Ask, “What do you think?”
- Ask, “What would you like me to ask you about?”
- Stop talking. Forget advanced listening techniques. If you’re a lousy listener, just stop talking so much.
#4. Invite feedback.
Bad bosses give feedback, but don’t invite it.
- How could I be better at ______, today? (Fill in the blank)
- What am I doing when I energize you?
- Ask “what” not “why.”
- Ask “how” not “why.”
Four quick tips for bad bosses:
- Stop protecting people from failure. The more you protect people, the more protecting you’ll need to do.
- Deal with problem people on the team.
- Teach more than tell.
- Say “we,” more than “me.”
What do employees really want from bosses?
What’s the number one thing you wish bad bosses would do?
*http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb10013402.htm
Great tools and advises! I wish my boss would read it… Is there any secret way to pass it onto her without knowing it was my idea? 🙂
Thanks Vita. Print it and secretly post it on a bulletin board? 🙂 Sadly, the fact that you feel a need to ask this question reveals part of the problem. Best wishes for success.
I agree PRINT it for the Board… but before you do, change the “I wish Bad Bosses would..” to “Every Boss Should…”
😉
Dan…I can’t tell you how many times I have printed these out and anonymously posted on the coffee room bulletin board. It is interesting to see which ones stay up for weeks and which ones are immediately disposed of. My absolute favorite one of yours is the post about “Self-deluded leaders believe intention automatically translates into behavior.” Suprisingly…that one stayed up for a loooong time.
Today’s post is spot on…last year I had a bad boss…loved to talk. Talk, talk, talk, talk, and look at his Blackberry while “listening” to direct reports. (Along with about 8 more of the 10 bad boss behaviors you listed above.) I hadn’t felt that disrespected and invisible since I worked retail! Thankfully, I have moved to a different department (same company) with a different boss. My boss now is supportive and ernest in his desire to see our team succeed. It is a much more enjoyable place to be now. I wonder why the expectations for managers isn’t the same enterprise-wide?
I agree! You should be a boss.
Thanks Theboss. Maybe we should eliminate the term “boss” from organizational life?
good idéa!
I’m your most fortunate reader, I have had great bosses.
I make no claim to being self-made they shaped me by helping me find my core strengths, encouraging, challenging and building.
I’m so grateful for these men in my path.
“You must be the person you have never had the courage to be.”
– Paulo Coelho
Best steps forward – I want to be a friendly and motivating role modell
– in leading
– in human be 🙂
Great post as always Dan – thank you!
DELELETE THE “BOSS” >> CHANGE >> INTO “CREATOR” 😉
MORE CREATIVE POWER …
BELIEVE IN YOUR IMAGINATION
Why do you refuse to give birth to your imagination …
Do you not trust on their cosmogenic value?
… with a smile – beate
It’s so easy to fall into the pattern of treating people like tools – interchangeable spanners to be replaced at need. I think that some of that starts in HR, which is set to scale vs be intimate with the employees.
It is amazing the difference makes having a great boss! You feel encouraged, empowered, freedom, and permitted to explore (and make mistakes).
Darn, you are good. I wish I can give this to bad bosses. Good ones are far and few. I am fortunate that I have a good supervisor.
Great post. I think sometimes we get in these roles and they change us. It really just comes down to common sense and treating people like people. The word boss really does need to go away – Facilitator, Creator, Partner, Service Leader and more ift the bill better.
If only bosses would eliminate the following problems.
Employees are often …
1. in the wrong careers
2. in the wrong jobs
3. working for the wrong boss
4. working for the wrong employer
5. not paid well
6. not managed well
7. not rewarded fairly
8. not listened to
9. not involved in career planning
10. bored by the job
11. over challenged by the job
12. unsuccessful in the job
13. untrained
14. not asked
15. not respected
I’m sure there are many more that could be added to the list.
Nice Post Amazing
I am the type of person who likes to brainstorm ideas and make thsoe ideas reality. I always think of new innovation and new ideas and i can never voice my opinion in my work. bosses often just say yeah good idea and thats all that happens with it because they are so focused on what needs ot be done on their plate vs what could really benefit the company.
i want to approach the VP of engineering at my company however what is the best way for me to get his attention and make him a partner in allowing myself to just vent my ideas at him?
how do i get a mentor that is really high up in a company? my head is where their head is. seeing the future of technology. thats what im good at and like doing. how can i get there quickly?
its a very corporate structured company and i need to go up high to the VP because lower managers are not very supportive nor do they like people to voice their opinions.
Good list! I try to follow this and set it as an example to those I lead.
Outstanding as usual! Just don’t let the push become a shove! Bad bosses exist as well as good bosses so count your blessing if you have good Bosses and if they are bad share the list! Cheers
Another home run Dan! But before I look out, I’m going to make sure and look inward. I want to make sure that I’m not doing this with my own team.
Another home run Dan! But before I look out, I’m going to make sure and look inward. I want to make sure that I’m not doing this with my own team.
Great topic Dan! That is the great thing about the value of “leadership” in that “leaders” are differentiated by the fact that they are always concerned about the development of their people. 🙂
Dan, this is an excellent and very thought-provoking post. First, all of the sudden, leaders are NOT bosses: It’s “their” bosses we’re talking about.
On one extreme, you vividly describe how bosses can be bad, and how they can improve. At the other extreme, Bob Gately–I think–suggests how “the poor of spirit will always be among us” (staff members and perhaps management alike)–no matter who their boss is or what the boss does.
The stat you cited–“65% of the workforce would choose a new boss over a raise”–speaks more to the study respondents than to the study subjects. I went back to your reference, (PRWEB) October 16, 2012 by Michelle McQuaid, and was freaked out by the workplace unhappiness,
lack of inspiration and appreciation by bosses, the great stress reported, some 70% say their health is in jeopardy, and another 50% believing they’d be more successful if their boss was more cooperative. Respectfully, I find these results hard to believe. BUT…
Michelle McQuaid is a world leader in “positive” psychology. In her full study her solution to this great dilemma is “performance fulfillment.” While workplace respect, better management-staff communications, and more staff autonomy and authority are her cures for peak performance,
she advocates a focus on rewarding all best-practices, recognizing the potential of all learners, and valuing the critical inquiry of all staff members.