LEADERS TURNING LOUSEY: TEN TRAITS OF THE BAD BOSSES

 “A devoted and driven employee of today craves recognition more than compensation.”

Miranda Priestly from 'The Devil Wears Prada' terrorized most of her employees, Gordon Gecko from 'Wall Street' crushed his team under rapacious greed, Wilhelmina Slater from 'Ugly Betty' bullied her staff for their odd fashion choices, Richard Chesler from the 'Fight Club' was unwaveringly ungrateful for the efforts of his workforce. While these on-screen bosses are awful and boil your blood to the extreme there are plenty of them in the real world who are horrible in their own right. And dealing with them makes for a unique story for every working individual out there who has to live life on a fixed monthly salary. Did any of these above sitcom and movie characters remind you of that boss you're working with or have ever worked with?

An incompetent employee can be replaced instantly with a new hiree, the cases of incompetent bosses being replaced are scarcely any. A toxic workplace primarily revolves around the toxic leader(s) but the era of tolerating a boss' dictatorship no longer dwells in the 21st century.

Speaking from experience, in professional settings especially if you belong to the advertising industry; work is referred to as a ‘grind’ for a reason. Working in a toxic environment makes you feel like a machine striving to complete assigned tasks in succession. Where even machines break down and require care from time to time, the great strain of waking up every day and being creative no matter what one’s current mental state is, the workload and fulfilling anticipated outcomes per diem, staying back and toiling away in late hours just because ‘the boss’ has committed to the client of mailing that project before morning; the life in agencies can be strenuous and miserable for many.

Mahatma Gandhi stated, "A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have but how many leaders you create." Leading entails mentoring, providing feedback, and nurturing future leaders. Just because someone can theoretically handle a team does not mean they are qualified for the position to do so. And it's just as vital to detect unhealthy behavior as to replicate positive ones. If you are juggling between staying back due to the lack of new job opportunities or managing a team at present, consider these characteristics of a lousy leader.

1. Walking around with vainglory

As true as ever; employees leave managers, not the company. Many people are unfamiliar with the term vainglory. However, it has been prospering in several agencies for decades. If pride is the inner sense that you are superior to others, vainglory is the craving for public praise that supersedes everything else. In simpler words, it is narcissism. It's tempting to grab credit and walk into the foreground as the leader of a successful team or business. Effective leaders, however, must be conscious of these inclinations and remain modest. Because where excessive pride dwells, there is a loss of trust and respect. One in two employees leaves the job to get away from the managers.

 2. Micromanaging with a controlling approach

Micromanaging is a management approach in which the manager closely watches their team members. Micromanagement has several negative consequences, including decreased productivity, significant anxiety, and lowered creativity. While many bosses may not consciously seek to micromanage, they cannot help but take charge of everything their team does and it can be incredibly poisonous to any business.

Leaders who micromanage or have difficulty surrendering control, demonstrate that they do not trust their colleagues to execute the tasks for which they were hired. Some leaders must abandon them "I know it all" mentality. If you are always the one with the 'best solution’, your employees will not feel like you respect their skills and expertise. This leads to sentiments of bitterness and inadequacy, which are incredibly difficult to overcome. When bosses empower their employees with liberty and space, they frequently reciprocate that confidence by fulfilling and surpassing expectations.

In Steve Jobs’ words: “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

3. Failure to provide adequate encouragement/motivation 

True leaders inspire rather than manipulate. The distinction between the two approaches is that motivation is based on honesty and helps employees, whereas manipulative behavior is deceptive and self-centric. Who wants to put out endeavors when the only thing that is ever acknowledged is mistakes?

Burning a candle at both ends while working in the advertising and branding world for over a decade, I have faced a few Whys from my bosses. And using 'Why' to challenge someone's talents can be demotivating. I feel that employing how or what are viable options for collaborative progress. "How can I help out the team to get this done swiftly?" and "What tools can I provide to make this task efficient?" Now that is the characteristic of a compassionate leader.

Providing honest guidance and appreciating those who work hard and accomplish the goals of the firm is the key ingredient to reaching greater milestones.

 4. Poor listening hygiene 

Because employers have a lot on their plates during the day, it's easy for them to ignore what an employee has to say. When leaders intervene or have an employee explain the same thing for the fifth time, the employee is unlikely to feel heard or respected. Repeating talks consumes time and frustrates employees. Furthermore, poor listening hygiene can lead to confusion and miscommunication which conveys the image that supervisors do not care about their staff. Listening should be as important as issuing commands to staff if you want to be or remain an excellent boss. In harsher terms, leaders who do not give a damn about their teams' problems, do not deserve to lead, period.

 5. Favouring favorites 

An ideal leader treats all team members fairly. Favoritism is common among bad managers. Often a manager may just favor one employee above the others. However, in the professional sphere, we do not work to build bonds. A boss/manager should treat all employees equitably, regardless of gender, religion, qualification, skills, experience, or job position. Bosses like these may appear strong at first in selecting who gets what. However, if they are biased internally and do not treat all team members equally, staff members will not respect them, which can have an influence on their productivity as well as the company's reputation.

 6. Stealing the credit for employee's creativity

Taking the credits for concepts, designs, or projects which are entirely done by employees - demeans them and gives the impression that you are unable to share the glory. Just because you are the one in charge of the company or a team within the company, does not imply you should take credit for the work put in to make a certain project a success. A leader's responsibility is to guide a group of employees who can work together to bring meaningful ideas to reality. Employees want to ensure that their efforts are valued and that they are appreciated for their tacit know-how. Remember, a devoted and driven employee of today craves recognition more than compensation.

 7. Lacking empathy 

Emotions, according to common opinion, have no place in the workplace. However, the most crucial leadership skill is empathy. Leaders with empathy, go beyond sympathy. Compassion increases human connections in general, leading to more effective communication and beneficial outcomes at work. If your boss lacks empathy and appears unconcerned about your interests, they may have low emotional intelligence. Employees who work under this sort of boss could feel distant from the ambitions of the department or organization.

 8. Arrogance in accent

It's not always about what you say, but how you say it. And this is something that leaders must be aware of. Because you may have the finest intentions and yet come out as a snob. Of course, tone plays a role in every encounter between leaders and employees. Whether it's dispute resolution, job performance reviews, or a short comment in the team meeting, how things are spoken, counts.

 9. Blowing a fuse 

Anger does not build anything but it surely destroys everything, be it a professional or personal life. When you search "Angry boss" on any search engine, you will see an image of a disgruntled, yelling manager at an employee. The amount of strain on the boss is frequently the source of these upheavals. Regardless, leaders should avoid venting their frustrations on their workforce. Professionalism includes emotional moderation. Temper tantrums set a negative example for the team and taints one's professional image. An excessively angry boss not only damages employees' emotional well-being but also causes a huge loss to the company.

10. Refusing the transformation (of actions or opinions)

If any of the aforementioned qualities of a bad leader apply to you or someone you've worked with, know it is ugly breeding of ‘reluctance to change.  Fine-tuning with time is a critical part of surviving and sustaining today’s fast-changing world. Even human evolution wouldn’t have taken place without adapting to the change.

According to one research conducted in the year 2019, 57% of employees quit their jobs due to their boss.

The definition of 'bad', as in situational leadership, is dependent on the demands of the workforce, the boss' competencies, and the conditions of the scenario. If your beliefs do not align with those of your employer and you do not believe this discrepancy will resolve, you and your boss have a significant problem. So, before you walk out the door by handling the resignation letter to your boss, be sensible and take the appropriate actions as a professional. Tell your boss what you need in terms of guidance, input, and assistance to thrive in tandem.

If you are the boss or the manager who supervises a team every single day, First, understand and acknowledge your flaws. Then, take measures to correct and enhance your weaknesses. Get this straight: Your employees are humans, first and foremost – just as you are. They are more than mere ‘Human Resources’. When you treat them properly, they experience a feeling of belonging and appreciation, recall the company’s objective, are ambitious towards performing better and know the value of growth. Motivated leaders continue to educate themselves, particularly by reading good books, obtaining input from their team once a year, and joining training programs periodically, because all these things do not make them any less of a leader. They know it will only create better people in charge of the future. More than the finest businesspeople, the world requires better leaders.

Thank You

JK