What does it take to be a really bad boss? David Silverman reveals all in “11 Habits of the Worst Boss I Ever Had”, a timeless collection of how to confuse, intimidate and generally exasperate employees. I don’t want to steal his thunder — it’s worth reading for yourself.
But a few jumped out because they perfectly encapsulate the right-meaning, wrong-thinking boss who inhabits a parallel universe to your own.
You know the type: nice enough, but unpredictable and unaware of your skills needs or progression. They’ll remind you to do something you’ve been doing in your sleep for months, yet expect you to handle a problem far beyond your level of expertise.
Silverman nails three particular traits of the well-intentioned boss:
- 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?
- 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.
- Thank your employees — but only for efforts below their skill level. “Thank you for showing up today.” “Nice handwriting on that expense report.”
Possible remedies:
1. For under-directing, vague bosses, you could try repeating their woolly instructions back: ‘So that’s do more of X, less of Y, all of Z, by close of play today.’ Or email them a summary of Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey’s Situational Leadership. This essentially advises them on how to adapt their level of support and direction to the individual. It’s not subtle, but it might help.
2. Ask for an evaluation with inbuilt objectives on at least an annual basis. If needs be, create the first list of objectives yourself — if you’re expected to write your own job description, then do just that.
3. Tricky. Any suggestions?
What about you — do you have a boss who means well but gets it wrong? Or are you guilty of a few of Silverman’s management mishaps? How do you handle these situations at work?
