Showing posts with label Boss. Show all posts

10 Signs You Might Have a Bad Boss

Failing to delegate and demonstrate trust

Answer by Jason Ewing on Quora.

It’s so easy to be a bad boss… and the list of things that make a “Bad boss” is really, really long. Here are my top ten “Bad Boss” characteristics. The list is by no means comprehensive. Be warned, this is an exceptionally long answer.

Be the person who thinks being a good “doer” automatically makes you a good leader. I see this in organizations way too often. You need a sales manager so you promote your best sales agent. Need an IT manager? Promote one of the best engineers. The truth is that being good at doing the job is not the same as being good at leading the people doing the job.Sometimes, you get both skills in the same person, but this is not always the case. Good doers can become bad bosses because they are good doers.Tasks seem very easy to them, and they may have difficulty relating to direct reports who are less competent. When you have someone who should clearly be doing the job stuck behind a desk failing to lead peoplethen you have a recipe for a Bad Boss.
Mistake “leading by example” for “doing the tasks that your team does.”I’ve seen this one a lot from new managers. Employees say all the time that they respect a boss who rolls up their sleeves and gets in the trenches with them. There is a time and a place for that. What I see too often from new managers is that they spend too much time in the trenches. They get buried in the work of their team and they set themselves up for a host of failures. They don’t have the time to dedicate to actual tasks of leadership. Worse, they have difficulty stepping back from the work their team does to take the position of a leader. You set yourself up to be compared to your team, and they measure your aptitude based on your proficiency doing the same tasks they do. That’s not an accurate way to measure a leader, but it’s all your team is left to do. The team thinks your a “Bad Boss” because you aren’t as good of a worker, but your job isn’t to be a worker, it’s to be a leader.
Set a bar that’s too high. Bad bosses do this in all manner of ways. You point to your star player and expect the whole team to be like that person. You only provide positive feedback for things that go above and beyond. You have an exceptionally low tolerance for mistakes. Standards are important and it’s vital to hold your people accountable. At the same time, people aren’t machines, and leaders need to be aware of that. Expectations should be clearly communicated, should be achievable, and the employee needs to have buy in to the expectation. If your employees feel that your standards are too high to achieve, they will stop trying.
Burning the midnight oil at all times. I chase managers out of the office for staying late every night. Managers that are there every day before the staff shows up and are at the same time the last ones to leave every day have problems. There’s a time to dig deep, but it shouldn’t be every day. If you’re digging that deep every day, all the time, you’ve got problems. Either you’re not managing your time well, you’re not delegating well, you’re not managing your workload well (see #2, too much time in the trenches means not enough time for your own tasks) or something else is going wrong. What bad bosses don’t realize is that your team sees this. If you’re always there early and working late, it becomes a barrier to your team approaching you. They don’t want to trouble you with things because you’re obviously too busy. They may also feel guilty for not going above and beyond when clearly you do every day. Further, it can send a message that you don’t trust your team… clearly, you aren’t willing to let them work without you present. If you are in a position where you absolutely have to do this all the time then take your work home. Make a point of visibly leaving on time, take the laptop home and get to work there… your team won’t ever thank you, but they will appreciate it.
Failing to admit responsibility or mistakes. Being a boss is hard. We’re human and we make mistakes too. When we make mistakes, it impacts our teams. There is nothing wrong with apologizing to your direct reports. If you cannot admit your mistakes to them (when confidentiality allows) then how are they ever going to feel comfortable admitting their mistakes to you?
Mistake being liked for being respected. You know what’s easy as a manager? Being liked. You can win popular manager of the month every single month without ever being effective. Take the employee’s side every time. Accept every excuse. Grant every policy over ride. Be your employee’s champion! There are lots of things you can do to be liked but that isn’t the same as being respected. Good managers know when they need to be the bad guy. They know when they need to enforce discipline. When you hold your team accountable, they will respect you. That’s harder to manage than being liked. Liked is easy. Settling for being liked will leave your team in a horrible middle ground of performance where failures are tolerated and no one strives for excellence because of it.
Mistake enforcing discipline for creating genuine accountability. It’s easy to become the tyrant. Write people up, threaten their jobs, and crack the whip! That’s easy. That isn’t accountability. This kind of leadership through fear inspires people to work hard enough to not get fired and to hope their mistakes aren’t caught. They disengage, and they don’t share their struggles for fear that exposing their mistakes will cost them their jobs. Again, if your people can’t approach you and say “I screwed up” without significant fear of reprisal, then their mistakes will surprise you when they are discovered and they will cost you more.
Failing to delegate and demonstrate trust. I alluded to this in #4 but it’s deserving of a point in its own right. If you can’t delegate, hand off tasks, or otherwise demonstrate faith in your team, they begin to feel marginalized and replaceable. People need more than a paycheck to feel engaged at work, they need to feel like their work has meaning. More importantly, they need to feel that they have a way to contribute personally that has value. Bad managers may ‘hold back’ tasks because they feel that their employees already have ‘enough work to do’ but the truth is that giving them an additional responsibility sends a message that you have faith in their ability to execute on that responsibility. It gives them a reason to step up, and that’s important.
Failing to engage with your direct reports on a human level. Managers need to interact with their team as human beings. While everyone tries to leave outside of work stresses at home, that isn’t always possible. If you haven’t connected to your team as human beings, you won’t understand the pressures outside of work that affect their performance at work. Saying “I don’t care what’s going on at home, just do your job” is a sure way to manage an employee out the door, to lose the respect of your team and to be a Bad Boss.
Thinking you have all the answers, and that you have to have all the answers. It’s okay to say “I don’t know.” It’s okay to say “I can’t answer that now, but I’ll go find out.” It’s even okay to say “I can’t make a decision right now, let me think about it and come back to you.” Managers who feel like they already know everything stumble badly when they don’t know what they need to. Managers who dispense uninformed answers not only cause mistakes that are their own fault (see #5) but at the same time, lose the respect of their team. Managers who make snap decisions to appear to be experts make costly mistakes.

Good leadership is harder than it looks. There are lots of well meaning paths that lead to horrible results. That’s why so many people have stories about their “worst boss ever.” I will freely admit to have wandered into many of those traps myself. Fortunately, I’ve had great leaders who have gone before me take the time to be the mentor I’ve needed. If I’m lucky, the tidbits above will help people avoid some of those very same traps.

This question originally appeared on Quora: How do you define a “bad” boss?

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10 Dumb Things Bosses Say (and What to Say Instead)

BY Geoffrey James

Being the boss is difficult enough without making it harder by saying silly things.

Being the boss is hard work and it's even harder if your employees think you're acting like a fool. Here are ten common silly phrases that bosses use, followed by a far more effective alternative.

10. "Don't ever talk to my boss."

A boss sometimes worry that if employees talk to his or her own boss, it will undermine the boss's own authority. To prevent this, the boss instructs employees to channel all communications through the official management chain.

This is dumb because information/gossip/opinion flies around the company with the speed of light and it's ridiculous for anyone to try to control it. Because of this, a boss who wishes to suppress discussion just comes off looking paranoid.
Smart bosses say: "Always keep me in the loop."

9. "Track how you spend every hour."

Some bosses believe that if they can track how everyone in the organizations spends his or her time, they'll get a better handle on what's going on and thereby be able to make better decisions.

However, obsessive time tracking makes it harder to have "skunk works" projects that are the primary source of innovation in most companies. At the same time, employees inevitably start "fudging" their hours to match management's expectations.
Smart bosses say: "Here's what I need you to accomplish:..."

8. "Use fewer office supplies."

Sure, office supplies cost money, but so does worrying about using less of them. For example, I was once in a firm that sharply limited the amount of copier paper to save money. The result was hoarding and raiding, all of which consumed time and money.

Similarly, I have twice seen email from inside Fortune 100 firms suggesting that employees reuse their paperclips. However, if an office worker spends .1 second worrying about a paperclip, it costs more than the cost of the paper clip.
Smart bosses say: "Worry about getting the job done."

7. "The customer is always right."

I addressed this issue recently in the post "The Customer is Often Wrong." The problem here is that when bosses use this tired phrase, it's usually to undermine the best judgment of a salesperson who's much closer to the situation.

Bosses are supposed to manage employees, not customers and when they intrude themselves in customer relationships, there's a high likelihood they'll take action based upon ignorance. Just ask any salesperson.
Smart bosses say: "I support your decision."

6. "We expect corporate loyalty."

Many bosses believe that employees should be willing remain in their jobs even when they can get a better job elsewhere. This is especially true when the employer has spent money to train the employee in a specialty.

The thing about loyalty, though, is that it's supposed to go both ways. Maybe corporate loyalty made sense when companies guaranteed lifetime employment. But, today, why should employees feel loyal when they know they could be outsourced in a heartbeat?
Smart bosses say: "I'll continue to pay you what you're worth."

5. "This is a meritocracy."

Many companies--especially in high tech industries--claim that the smartest employees always get the promotions. However, a cursory glance at almost any medium-sized firm shows that the "Peter Principle" is just as often the rule.

Beyond this, it's perfectly ridiculous to talk about a meritocracy in any industry where less than half of the top executives are female. After all, women started attending college in equal numbers as men 40 years ago.
Smart bosses say: "We try our best to hire and promote the best."

4. "You'll gain valuable experience."

Bosses say this whenever they want somebody to work for less than their labor is worth to the company.

The perfect example of this is the unpaid internship, but bosses also use this bait to hook seasoned employees, too.

Let's suppose that the concept has merit. In this case, shouldn't first-time CEOs who take over established firms all be paid $0.00? After all, aren't they gaining valuable experience that they can use when they get their next job?
Smart bosses say: "You'll be paid what you're worth and you'll learn something, too."

3. "There's no truth to that rumor."

Bosses often believe that the can tamp down a rumor by denying that it's true. However, anybody with an ounce of sense realizes that if the rumor weren't true, the boss wouldn't be giving it special attention.

Nevertheless, bosses keep trying, especially when their company is about to downsize. Here is one case, though, where a meritocracy exists. The smart employees start looking for another job as soon as the downsizing rumor is denied.
Smart bosses say: Nothing.

2. "It's my way or the highway."

Many bosses think that they should know more about their employees' jobs than the employees know themselves. As a result, the boss lays out exactly how everything is to be done and insists that the employee toe that line.

However, bosses are supposed to be managing people, not the work that those people do. A boss should tell employees what to do rather than how to do it. Even when coaching, the boss should help the employee find his or her own way of doing things better.
Smart bosses say: "Let's try it your way."

1. "Because I said so."

While this justification might make sense for a five-year-old who can't understand adult reasoning, in the context of business, leaning on your authority as a manager is both lazy and stupid.

Because they're responsible adults rather than toddlers, employees are far more likely to support a decision with which they disagree if they understand the boss's reasoning for making that particular decision.
Smart bosses say: "I made this decision because..."

4 Things to Remember About Being the Boss

BY: Scott Elser

First things first: Understand that sometimes you're the problem in ways you don't even realize.

A funny thing happened in the office a few weeks ago. My team was preparing to have an impromptu birthday party for one of the agency's favorite employees, who happens to keep kosher. Everything was beautifully planned, and they'd purchased several kosher cupcakes. Unaware of any of this, I soon realized what they were doing and made a joke about ensuring they had a kosher cake. What happened next was right out of a scene from The Office. The party was immediately delayed, calls were made all over Manhattan and several people were dispatched in search of a kosher cake. All because I made a passing comment that was never intended to be taken seriously.

This was a huge lesson in the power of perception. When you run a business, or a large team, you naively assume that everyone perceives you as the normal, down to earth person you are. The truth is that people inevitably look at you differently when you're in charge. You're wearing the big shoes now, and other people are going to take you seriously because they feel they have to.

There's a theory known as the Butterfly Effect, which suggests that a butterfly's wings flapping in one part of the world can trigger a hurricane in another. This is a good metaphor for the role a business leader plays, and how seemingly insignificant actions can induce a rippling effect throughout the entire organization. Here are some ways to avoid the Butterfly Effect in your own business:

Your "small request" is their fire drill.

I've been told that the worst thing anyone can hear at Launchpad is me saying, "Hey, you have a couple of minutes?" What seems like a small request from you is, by its very definition, a big to-do for your team. Think carefully before tapping someone on the shoulder, and when you do, make sure they know why they are doing what they have been asked. Otherwise, your employees only know two things: one, that they have to do this because you want it done, and two, it's the dumbest thing they'll do all day.

Keep your whims in check.

I recently asked one of my employees to tell me the things I do that drive everyone nuts, and her feedback was eye-opening. I'm an instant gratification-type person, and when I get an idea, I want to share it immediately. I'll grab a few key people and ask, "Hey, do you have a couple of minutes to go over this?" I assume that if people are busy, they'll just say so! Turns out, they never do. Instead, everyone rearranges their schedules and messes up their days to accommodate my idea.

A little filtering on your part can go a long way.

It's not only something as simple as a one-off comment that can eat up your organization's resources. Sometimes it's those ancient, embedded procedures that are so deeply interwoven into your system that they just happen without any real thought. This came up when I was working with a large company, where every once in a while a consumer would send a complaint note to the CEO's office. Sometimes these were real issues that required real action, but often they were crazy, irrational comments that amounted to nothing. These insane comments demanded a tremendous amount of resources to investigate and respond to--usually for something that was entirely unimportant in the first place. Why? Simply because they came from the CEO's office. Just a little "common sense" filtering on the part of his staff would have made a tremendous difference to organizational productivity.

Your indecision is their nightmare.

Your employees' time is valuable. To them, and to your company. Irresponsible use of their time can lead to squandered resources and subsequently make you look like a thoughtless manager. I remember working with this one executive who was flying out to San Francisco to give a 5-minute presentation at a sales meeting. This guy could not decide what he wanted to say. I ended up spending days packaging 100 slides for a 5-minute speech. Spending just a few minutes thinking your requests through can save tremendous time and frustration for your team.

Remember, you're the boss.This all comes back to understanding how other people perceive you. You're the person who signs their paychecks, the one who they're trying to impress. There's no escaping that. Most CEOs have no desire at all to throw a wrench into the works, they just aren't thinking about how their actions can affect the ecosystem of their company. This is especially true of owners of growing businesses with roles that are expanding as the company does. When Launchpad started, for example, I was part of a team of 5-10 people. Today, I'm running a ship of over 60. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, you go from the person you know yourself to be, to "The Boss" and you're now that butterfly. Just be careful how you flutter your wings, and you'll avoid setting into motion small disasters that eventually cost your company time and money.

www.inc.com

7 Shortcuts Every Boss Should Know

BY: Geoffrey James

These common-sense tips and techniques will make you a better manager.

After decades of observing executives and entrepreneurs in action, I've come to the conclusion that good management is mostly a matter of common sense. That being said, common sense can sometimes be in short supply.

To fill that lack, here's a "cheat sheet" from the "How to Manage Your Employees" chapter of my new book, Business Without the Bullsh*t: 49 Secrets and Shortcuts You Need to Know.

1. How to Think About Management

Business is an ecosystem, so cooperate rather than conquer.
Companies are communities, so treat people as individuals.
Management is service, so make others successful first.
Employees are your peers, so treat them like adults.
Motivate with vision, because fear only paralyzes.
Change is growth, so welcome rather than shun it.
Technology eliminates busywork and frees creativity.
Work should be fun, so don't make it a chore.

2. How to Be a Better Boss

Manage individuals, not numbers.
Adapt your style to each person.
Measure what's truly relevant.
Only one priority per person.
Stay even-tempered.
Take responsibility for your low performers.
Share your thoughts and ideas.
Ask questions rather than providing answers.
Treat everyone as equally as possible.
Don't expect more than you're willing to give.
Explain the reasoning behind your decisions.
Don't procrastinate, decide now!

3. How to Hire a Top Candidate

Know exactly whom you're looking for.
Constantly seek viable candidates.
Look for character, not experience.
Resilience is the mark of potential greatness.
Seek out the self-motivated.
Attitude is all-important.
Don't settle for canned references.

4. How to Hold a Productive Meeting

Have an agenda before you meet.
Provide background information.
Don't allow the meeting to meander.
Document what decisions were made.

5. How to Offer Criticism

Address undesirable behaviors when they happen.
Offer praise, then identify the behavior you want changed.
Ask questions to understand the "why" behind the behavior.
Agree upon a plan to change the behavior.
Monitor and reinforce the changed behavior.

6. How to Redirect a Complainer

Schedule a conversation rather than interrupt your own work.
Find out whether your advice and solutions are wanted.
Listen to the complaint without comment.
Ask what the complainer intends to do (if anything).
If asked, provide your best advice.
Ignore any "Yeah, but..." End the conversation.

7. How to Fire Somebody

Tell it like it is without the biz-blab.
Show empathy for the person being fired.
Explain why it's happening, as far as you're allowed.
Cut quickly, heal, and move on.

GEOFFREY JAMES | Columnist

Geoffrey James was recently named a "Top 40 Social Selling Marketing Master" by Forbes, and his blog has won awards from the Society of American Business Editors and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. His writing has appeared in publications as diverse as Wired, Brandweek, and Men's Health, and he is the author of numerous books, including The Tao of Programming, Business Wisdom of the Electronic Elite, and, most recently, Business Without the Bullsh*t: 49 Secrets and Shortcuts You Need to Know.

www.inc.com

5 Truths All Great Bosses Know

BY Geoffrey James

Some iconoclastic observations about what actually works when you're in the corner suite.

In the process of researching a few of my books, I've interviewed and discussed business challenges with hundreds of successful bosses, from big company CEOs to small town entrepreneurs. Here are five interesting truths I've learned from that experience:

1. You can't manage groups, only individuals.

It's crazy to think that you're managing a group of people, because the "group" is an abstraction that exists only in your mind. Either you're managing the individuals in that group or you're managing the individual who's managing those individuals. Period.

2. You can control or coach, but not both.

Every manager must make a fundamental decision: Is your job to control an employee's behavior or to coach the employee so that the behavior improves? You can't do both because they're mutually exclusive.

3. Hire very slowly but fire very quickly.

Take your time hiring because the cost of a bad new hire is astronomical. By contrast, if somebody isn't working out, treat the situation like surgery. Make the cut quickly so that everyone (include the person you fired) can move on.

4. To get loyalty, you must first give it.

Many bosses complain about employees who jump ship. The bosses who were self-aware, though, realized it's unrealistic to ask for employee loyalty unless you, the boss, are willing to take a financial loss in order to keep those employees employed.

5. Too much leadership spoils the team.

You want a team full of leaders, right? Wrong! Most of the time you're better off hiring worker bees than queen bees. Think of it this way: An orchestra consisting of 110 conductors is just a bunch of people waving little sticks.
The above is based upon my new book, Business Without The Bullsh*t. If you pre-order BWtBS, you get an exclusive bonus chapter (for you and a friend) and a signed bookplate.

GEOFFREY JAMES | Columnist

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

BY Geoffrey James

The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. See what they get right.

A few years back, I interviewed some of the most successful CEOs in the world in order to discover their management secrets. I learned that the "best of the best" tend to share the following eight core beliefs.

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered.

Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship."

Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality.

Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average bosses see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.

Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late.

Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.

Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.

Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

GEOFFREY JAMES | Columnist

11 Habits of the Worst Boss I Ever Had

By :David Silverman HBR Blog Network

TV’s Ur-boss, Michael Scott of The Office, is a paradigm of what not to do as a leader–like imprisoning your staff in a conference room to prove that work is better than jail. But while there is the ring of truth in his incompetence, the actual truth is always more interesting than fiction.

Therefore, as I prepare to be a boss in my own new company, I present 11 demotivational lessons inspired by an actual Michael Scott I used to work for. I hope they provide a manifesto of poor leadership you can post, like Martin Luther’s on the church door, to the whiteboard of your own Dunder Mifflin executive. Or at least that you can slide into his/her inbox when no one is looking.

1. Change your mind. Change it several times a day. When reviewing a report, be sure to make comments that run counter to previous ones. Leave the employees guessing. It keeps them alert.

2. Be sure your employees don’t know what’s important to you. You want the best work possible, period. You don’t want them cutting corners just because something isn’t very important. Everything is important. Always.

3. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. You don’t have to explain. They just need to make it “better.” If you give them too much direction, how will they learn? For example: “I don’t know what you want from me, just make the PowerPoint ‘sexier.’”

4. Bring your employees along to all your meetings. But don’t let them speak. By not talking, they have to listen. Just like a Dictaphone. Then they can remind you of anything you napped through.

5. Thank your employees — but only for efforts below their skill level. “Thank you for showing up today.” “Nice handwriting on that expense report.” Begin the staff meeting by thanking the intern for comb-binding your files.

6. Schedule weekly “all hands” meetings that require half the employees to travel (to you, of course). Agenda: they bring you up to date on what they’ve been emailing you, but you’ve been too busy to read. Don’t introduce anything new.

7. Ask your tech savvy employees to take time from their projects to set up your home computer, preferably when the maid is there. Ideally, the request includes troubleshooting your kids’ iPods.

8. Agree to deadlines and then accelerate them. Ask loudly from the hallway if the document is ready at 4:59pm. Announce: “I’m here late tonight if you want to finish it up.”

9. Schedule “critical” meetings a few days before Christmas. Require random employees from around the world to attend. Show up late and decide everyone can reconvene to “close the open issues” on January 2nd.

10. Send emails at 2am. On Sunday. Mark them urgent.

11. Be careful not to get too wrapped up in your employee’s own goals. If you’re too supportive in helping them develop, they’ll leave you for another job. And that’s not good management.
How about you? Do you have any bosses that have embodied any or all of my how-not-to list? Have you been guilty of any of these yourself? What do you have to add?

If You Have a Bad Boss, These Are Your Options

By:Ron Ashkenas HBR Blog Network

A good boss provides encouragement, development, mentoring, and support, while also being fair, constructively critical, and helpful in integrating employees into high-performing teams. This is a boss you remember for years, one who has a lasting impact on your career.
But what happens when you end up with a really bad boss – someone who not only lacks these positive characteristics, but is also a negative force? Do you just grin and bear it, complain to higher authorities, look for an escape route, or do something else? Here are two quick (disguised) examples:

Sheila was an up-and-coming manager at a well-known manufacturing company. Several years ago, she was asked to build and run a small team that would invest in start-ups aimed at bringing new technology into the company’s supply chain. Since this was a minor operation, Sheila’s supervisor, the head of Supply Chain, paid her very little attention. Eventually, her team built a portfolio that caught the interest of the CFO and the CEO, and soon she was meeting regularly with them. Unfortunately, Sheila’s success with the C-suite was met with jealousy and anxiety from her boss. For the next year, the boss turned down requests for more resources, gave her poor performance reviews, and spread the word that Sheila was “difficult to manage.” Eventually he moved the team away from Sheila and left her as an individual contributor.

Howard was a high-potential manager at a large life sciences firm. For the past two years he had led a well-regarded team of analysts who provided performance reports to business units. When a new head of Financial Planning and Analysis was brought in from the outside, however, Howard suddenly couldn’t do anything right. His new boss criticized the way things were done, belittled members of Howard’s team, created discord with the business unit heads (their clients), and refused to listen to anyone’s input. And when Howard tried to spend time with this boss and develop a more personal relationship, he was castigated for being “high maintenance” and someone who “needs reassurance” to do his job.

Obviously both of these cases are somewhat extreme (although I have many similar ones to draw upon). But they do illustrate how a bad boss syndrome leaves subordinates feeling trapped and intimidated, with nowhere to go. If Sheila or Howard complain to the next highest level, it could make things worse and reinforce the claim that she or he is “difficult to manage” or “high maintenance.” If they go to HR or an executive with their concerns, they could be branded as troublemakers or difficult subordinates. But if they do nothing, they will be miserable and lose the respect of their direct reports. It’s a tough dilemma.

Luckily, there are a couple of alternatives. They come with no guarantees, but they may be worth considering.

The first is to wait it out. Bad bosses can be like bullies who eventually get tired of harassing people, particularly once they realize that it won’t get them anywhere. The key is to keep doing a good job, while making sure that people above and beyond your level know that you are still performing. Most of the time, a boss’s bad behavior is visible to others, so hanging in there, without complaining, will be viewed positively. And over time, a bad boss may even self-destruct and lose credibility. In fact, that’s what happened to Howard’s boss, who was eventually marginalized by his own peers. Howard ended up with a bigger job in a different part of the organization.

The second alternative is to seek other options, both inside and out. Use the situation as an opportunity to reassess your career, your work-life priorities, and how you define success. When there are no catalytic situations forcing us to think about our trajectories, we stick to a certain path because it’s comfortable — even though it may not be optimal. Having a bad boss can force you to think about what you really want. In Sheila’s case, the turmoil that her boss generated pushed her to think about getting into the start-up sphere, using the contacts she had built over the years. In the long run, the bad boss liberated her to pursue another direction.
Nobody likes having a bad boss. But if you do, there are ways to survive.

The 10 Daily Habits of Horrible Bosses

By the laws of mathematics, most bosses are more or less average when it comes to management talent. However, bosses who are really awful tend to share these 10 easily-identifiable characteristics. -- Geoffrey James

1. They're indecisive.

Horrible bosses analyze problems to death and make tentative decisions, which they frequently revisit. By contrast, great bosses make decisions quickly and hold firm to them because they know that failure to decide is failure by default.

2. They're impatient.

Horrible bosses have a short fuse and are quick to vent frustration on employees. By contrast, great bosses keep their tempers in check lest browbeaten employees make more and worse mistakes.

3. They're overly dramatic.

Horrible bosses inflate every setback into a disaster, every competitor into a nemesis, and every workday into a series of conflicts. By contrast, great bosses turn setbacks into stepping stones, competitors into allies, and each workday into a good day to be alive.

4. They're controlling.

Horrible bosses believe there are only two ways to do something: "My way or the highway." By contrast, great bosses use their employees' individual traits to align personal goals with business goals.

5. They're not self-aware.

Horrible bosses ride the roller coaster of their own emotions, dragging employees along with them. By contrast, great bosses cultivate the emotional awareness to understand their own processes and harness them to everyone's advantage.

6. They play favorites.

Horrible bosses hand out plum assignments, perks, and raises to employees whom they like the best. By contrast, great bosses give each employee the opportunity to excel in his or her own way.

7. They're overly vain.

Horrible bosses hog the limelight and take the credit for the successes of their team. By contrast, great bosses always realize that without actual workers doing actual jobs, there would be no such things as a "job creator."

8. They're inflexible.

Horrible bosses are forever trying to replicate past successes, even if they're ancient history. By contrast, great bosses treat past successes warily because "what got you to where you are now won't get you to where you want to go."

9. They blame others.

Horrible bosses finger-point and scapegoat when things go wrong. By contrast, great bosses know that the failure of a team is always a failure of its leadership and rarely of the team itself.

10. They're never grateful.

Horrible bosses characterize themselves as "self-made" because they've worked so hard. Great bosses are always conscious that they're successful because they're standing on the shoulders of giants.

www.inc.com

Bad Boss? 7 Management Moves to Avoid

Managing people is a difficult job--so difficult, in fact, that some bosses resort to shortcuts and dirty tricks.

Here are seven of the ugliest management tactics in the business world, along with better ways to handle the challenges. Make sure you're following the better example.

1. The 'Development Opportunity'

Challenge: You need an employee to take some donkey-work assignment that's way outside the employee's job description.

A lousy manager ... paints a rosy picture of how impressive the project will look on the employee's resume. Best-case scenario is that the employee will not only do the grunt work, but actually feel grateful.

Better approach: Make it clear that the crummy assignment is beyond the call of duty, that you appreciate the extra effort, and that it's not going to be a regular thing.

2. The Sacrificial Victim

Challenge: You want to float a controversial idea to the powers that be, but don't want to risk getting publicly shot down.

A lousy manager ... asks an employee to present at the big meeting, calling it a way for her to "gain some visibility." The manager then inserts the controversial proposal into the presentation so that it looks like the employee's idea. If the excrement hits the fan, the employee gets blamed. If not, the manager takes credit.

Better approach: Line up your ducks with the powers that be in one-on-one meetings before bringing the idea to a public forum.

3. The Rock Fetch

Challenge: An employee is pressuring for a decision you'd rather not make.

A lousy manager ... avoids the issue by claiming to be on the brink of a decision, but only after the employee has gathered additional information, written a detailed report, gotten buy-in from somebody who's unavailable, etc.

Better approach: Level with the employee about why you're reluctant to make the decision, then set a reasonable time limit--and actually decide.

4. Promise the Moon

Challenge: You have a valuable employee you're afraid of losing, but can't pay what she's actually worth.

A lousy manager ... makes a series of vague, wonderful-sounding promises that are free of actual commitments, details, and timelines. By holding out illusory carrots, the lousy manager hopes that the valuable employee will stay put and keep quiet.

Better approach: Create an environment where your top people truly enjoy working, even though they might get paid more elsewhere.

5. Trot Out the Bogeyman

Challenge: You want reduce expensive employee turnover.

A lousy manager ... tries to keep employees in line through liberal application of fear. He'll email articles about high unemployment, bring up the possibility of a layoff at staff meetings, or even leave a copy of "The Black Book of Outsourcing" where employees might see it.

Better approach: Improve your hiring practices to find better fits for the jobs you need done. The better the fit, the lower the turnover.

6. 'My Hands are Tied!'

Challenge: An employee expects a big raise that isn't really deserved.

A lousy manager ... avoids conflict by citing unverifiable conditions or forces (e.g. "salary guidelines," "our investors") which prevent him from doing what he'd "really love to do, if it were possible." Such statements are always vague.

Better approach: Level with the employee about the real reason that the big raise isn't forthcoming and work on a plan to improve the employee's performance.

7. 'You're a Professional!'

Challenge: You want low-level and mid-level employees to work 60 hours a week--but can only pay for 40.

A lousy manager... will try to convince these employees that they're "professionals" and are expected to put in the extra hours, even if they're just doing rote work.

Better approach: Pay people what they're actually worth, without the veneer of BS. If that's not possible, then maybe you don't have a viable business model.

www.inc.com

8 Easy Ways to Be an Extraordinary Boss

By:Geoffrey James

High-class leadership means doing both the little and the big things necessary for your employees to flourish. Here's where to start.

A few years ago, I interviewed several dozen highly successful CEOs. In the post "The 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses," I provided a summary of what I learned. That post, however, was missing something important: the implementation plan.
With that in mind, here's where you start:

1. Encourage diversity of viewpoint.

Average bosses create teams where everyone thinks the same way. Extraordinary bosses seek to draw upon a multitude of viewpoints and opinions, and thereby better understand what's happening in the market and what can be done to take advantage of the market conditions. They don't set artificial quotas but instead hire and promote in a way that avoids uniformity of thought.

2. Kill and eat your cash cows.

Average bosses cling to the products and processes that made them successful. Extraordinary bosses know most products and services have a relatively short lifetime before being replaced by something else. They know that the "next generation" will probably use a totally different technology and be sold and marketed a completely different way. They are therefore more than willing to sacrifice and replace current products and services, especially when those products and services are selling really well.

3. Speak from the heart.

Average bosses try to be businesslike and remote, hiding their emotions behind jargon and weasel words. By contrast, extraordinary bosses speak honestly about their goals and desires, admit their own vulnerabilities, and ask for their employees' help and understanding. When their team wins, they express gratitude. When their team loses, they commiserate rather than criticize. Then they figure out how to do better next time.

4. Create a climate of trust.

Success in business means achieving a dream together even when that dream seems impossible to achieve. However, people can't possibly believe in the impossible when they can't believe the leaders who are asking them to accomplish it. People know instinctively when a boss is lying and then feel entitled to tell lies in return. By contrast, building a culture of truth-telling lays the groundwork for inspiration to fill the imagination.

5. Encourage fraternization.

Average bosses love perks like executive dining rooms that separate bosses from the hoi polloi. Extraordinary bosses prefer perks like game rooms and free lunches that promote social interaction, both between groups and also between managers and employees. The goal: Make it easier for employees to build friendships so that everyone understands that "those people aren't out to get me because we're all in this together."

6. Become more family friendly.

Average bosses view families as distractions from the real business of getting work done. Extraordinary bosses, however, know that numerous studies show that productivity is greatly improved by the presence of on-site child care, and that working from home makes parents more productive. Extraordinary bosses, therefore, help employees be less distracted and more productive by seeking ways to help them become better connected to their families.

7. Support and fund hands-on volunteerism.

Average bosses see corporate charity in terms of arm-twisting fund drives (think "United Way"). Extraordinary bosses encourage group activities--like bake sales, benefit concerts, and school mentor programs--that create social interaction, thereby building a stronger sense of community both within the company and with community at large.

8. Reduce bureaucracy by dispersing power.

Average bosses accumulate decision making power at the top, which inevitably leads to the creation of bureaucracy (think "Federal Government"). Extraordinary bosses know that bureaucracy and centralized decision making creates friction and overhead, which eventually slows growth. Extraordinary bosses thus tend to disperse power downwards, thereby creating flatter, more adaptable, organizations.

5 Ways to Survive a Terrible Boss

By: Les McKeown

Working for a start-up is no easy feat. Founders can be, well, jerks. If you're not ready to quit, here's how to get through the day to day.

There's nothing more debilitating than heading into work every day depressed at the thought of having to face your dysfunctional boss. Founders, in particular, have a tendency to have eccentric personalities--not exactly winning the No. 1 Boss award. The good news: It doesn't have to be that way.

Here's a five-step plan to survive and thrive even the most malevolent manager:

1. Decide if it's bad enough to leave. It's one thing to struggle with a bad boss. It's a whole other circle of hell to be stuck in a mire of unhappy, dithering uncertainty about what to do about it.

The first step to recovery is to make a fundamental decision--are you going to stay, or go? Of course there are a lot of variables involved in making such an important decision - the financial impact, timing, availability of options, for example. But here's a simple rule of thumb: If issues with your boss run so deep as to be all-consuming, it's probably time to move on.

2. If you're staying, stay positive. Assuming your boss issues are painful but not all-consuming, it may well be possible to stay and carve out a perfectly acceptable working environment, but only if you build on the right foundation.

That foundation is your personal contentment. If you're coming to work every day frustrated, discontent, unhappy, then the possibility is slim that you'll succeed in building a positive environment in which to work.

So if you've made a decision to stay, make a conscious commitment to staying positive. Don't dwell on the things your boss does that infuriate you, and don't take part in any of the office negativity surrounding your boss's jerkiness. (Hint: If you find it impossible to maintain a positive attitude, revisit point one above.)

3. Find what develops trust. Here's the key to building a positive environment with any boss, however incompetent or annoying: Unless they're an outright sociopath, there will be some way, some basis, some process to earn their trust.

The way to build trust with a jerk boss may not be necessarily attractive or becoming. Perhaps you have to watch them take all the credit for what you do, or let them treat you as their personal assistant, or listen patiently to their constant self-aggrandizing storytelling. Whatever it is, so long as it's not evil, wrong or demeaning, your job is to identify it, and being bluntly mercenary, use it to build your boss's trust.

(If what your boss expects from you is evil, wrong or demeaning--or worse, they are in fact a sociopath, with no way to build trust--then again, go back and review your decision in point one above.)

4. Build autonomy based on trust. Having built a "trust bank" with your toxic boss, the next step is to trade that currency for something much more useful to you--autonomy.
Use well-placed questions like "Why don't I chair the Wednesday afternoon meeting so you can accept that golf invitation?", for example, or "Shall I work on the new product launch over the summer months - I know you have a lot of family commitments then?" to unlock little pools of independence.

Start small. Don't spook your boss, and use the first few initiatives to build even more trust - deliver on time, and above all, don't spring any negative 'surprises' if you can avoid it.

5. Stay under the radar. Now you're off and running. You have your boss's trust and growing autonomy. The key now is to establish boundaries that will keep you happy and fulfilled without triggering a backlash from your toxic boss.

Let the answer to point three above be your guide. If it builds trust, do it. If it doesn't, beware.

Want To Learn How To Handle Your Boss?

By Kathrin Tschiesche

Perhaps the first question to ask about your manager is: can I work for them? A poor manager may be a good reason to move on. In this article however, we will take a more constructive line and assume that either in the short or the long term you are going to work with them. If so you need to work at the relationship.

Unless you can influence senior people there is a danger that your job will never be more than reactive; to some meaningful degree you need to be in the driving seat of the relationship.
In the following lines you will find some tips on how to create a constructive relationship with your boss. Good luck!

A relationship that works
The right relationship with your boss is vital. Such relationships are not necessarily good and good ones do certainly not just happen. The right working relationship benefits both parties. It is worth working at getting it straight, getting it agreed and, over time, keeping it up to date as things change.

Overall it should be:

Straightforward: You should always know how to approach things, for example what needs prior discussion and what can simply be actioned.

Open and trusting: Time and effort will be wasted if either party is trying to double guess the other.

Linked to clear objectives: Common approaches and with responsibilities, targets etc. – documented where necessary.

Well defined: This includes a clear definition of the boundaries between jobs, tasks and responsibilities. And clear rules. By all means campaign to change them, but ignoring them or arguing about them causes problems and, worst of all, will mean a manager is less prepared to consult and discuss things that matter more.

Two-way: The arrangement should define how both parties operate and interact, not just how you relate to your boss.

Mutually beneficial: In other words it works for both parties, though each may have different agendas and objectives.

A good relationship – one that works – encourages more trust and will tend to mean your responsibilities increase, which in turn gives you the opportunity to show what you can do and thus increase the trust… enough.

Defining your job
You are never going to make what you do impressive, if you are not sure what it is you are supposed to be doing. Your job description is not just a formality necessary only because HR says so. It should be a working tool that acts as an aide memoire between you and your boss.

So:

Make sure that you have one

Check that you agree with what it says

Ask for clarification about anything that is not clear

Ensure your boss considers it reflects real life too

Review it regularly and make sure it is, and stays, up to date.

If you are to have a good working relationship with your boss then the last thing you want is to have “I didn’t think that was my job” type discussions. Your job description and what it says forms a solid foundation from which to make sure that what you do impresses.

A sound working structure
You cannot influence anyone on a regular basis with an ad hoc approach. You need a sound basis – a routine and a structure.
This premise is easy to adopt, but then demands two things:

That you think it through. You need to take the initiative and think about what factors constitute a sound working arrangement. You can do worse than list them.

That you make it happen. Again that you take the initiative for creating and agreeing the appropriate basis – and making it stick.

TIP: Any shortfall here will dilute your efforts to work effectively; if you cannot get precisely the arrangement you want first time, keep on working at it.

For instance, adopt a routine especially regarding how you communicate and how and when you have meetings. Besides, ensure regular communication (of all sorts, but especially face to face meetings) and get sufficient time together to agree matters between you.

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

BY Geoffrey James

The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. See what they get right.

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered.
Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship."
Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality.
Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.
Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average bosses see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.
Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late.
Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.
Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.
Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

16 Things a Boss Should Never Say

BY Geoffrey James

If you feel like uttering these remarks, your best strategy is to keep silent.

1. "We've always done it this way." This is not a reason for doing something. It's a reason for the boss to avoid the work of rethinking the problem or situation.
2. "Just figure it out." Employees don't ask the boss how to do something when they can figure out how to do a difficult task themselves.
3. "I don't have time for this." It can be frustrating when employees put demands on you, but a boss's primary function is to ensure employees can do their own jobs.
4. "You think that you're stressed?" Any competition to see who's more stressed is truly a waste of mental effort.
5. "Is this the best you can do?" Well, yes, it probably is the best that the employee can do. And if it's not, do you really think that the employee will admit that?
6. "Just do as I say." This remark may work with children, but employees need to know the "why" behind the "what" and "how."
7. "Sorry to interrupt your vacation, but..." If something goes wrong while an employee is on vacation, the boss should chalk it up to his own lousy planning.
8. "Your predecessor did a better job." This is ultimate unhelpful remark. All it does is make the employee feel bad without any way to improve performance.
9. "You're lucky that you have a job." On hearing this, the best employees start looking for a different job and the worst ones freeze up, worrying that they'll be fired.
10. "That's a dumb idea." A remark like this, especially when delivered during a brainstorming session, ensures that employees never surface another idea.
11. "You're doing a lousy job." When employees are floundering, the boss needs to throw them a rope, not point out that they're about to drown.
12. "You look cute today." Just don't go there. Ever.
13. "What's wrong with you?" It's insulting enough to be told that you're wrong, but it's beyond insulting to imply that the wrongness is part of who you are.
14. "Why are you so lazy?" To be useful, criticism must address the behaviors than need changing, not character or personality issues.
15. "I knew you'd fail." If the boss knew that the employee would fail, why assign that project? To make the employee feel bad?
16. "I told you so." Even if (especially if) you warned the employee that an approach wouldn't work, gloating should be beneath you.