5 Bad Boss Traits You Must Avoid

Did you know three out of four employees have a bad boss?

Hopefully, the figurative three employees aren’t your employees. You could find that you think you’re a leader, your title has “manager” or “director,” but your team sees you with resentful eyes. Studies revealed about 68% of employees leave a job because their boss sucks! The time is now to think about how you approach management.

The dishonorable side of leadership where responsibility is thrown away in order to abuse the power is a very real thing. We have you covered though.

We identified 5 dishonorable traits and habits, in the form of short phrases, for managers like you to avoid becoming a bad boss.

1. “I know it all” – Good leaders never have all of the answers and the one that thinks so is bad for business. Before their lack of wisdom becomes everyone’s downfall, help them see that they need to figure things out and ask the right questions when the answers aren’t so clear.
2. “I fear change” – Change is scary and the business world is always changing. Yeah, that’s no comfort but stay with us here. Fearing change is paralyzing to your development and to facilitating the success of a team. Accept change and acknowledge that it is scary. See where you work best and get into making the most of changes happening.
3. “I fail and never learn” – If you’re failing as a habit, you better hope you have something you can hang your hat on. You need to find out why, when, how, and what you fail at consistently. We have something for you about bouncing back from failure.
4. “This is all about me” – You’re not a damn island. You’re the head, but this operation is not about just you and your career. Managers are connected to organization growth, their personal career and the livelihoods of their employees. To think your work is all about you is truly doing a dishonor to your career. Get some perspective about how this ecosystem works.
5. “Yes, absolutely (always)” – Yes men and women cannot prioritize; they neglect to think, are unassertive, and prefer to maintain the status quo. Leaders need to challenge and progress you and the organization. They can start by saying “no.”

BONUS

1. “I don’t care” – We said 5 dishonorable leadership traits, but what’s one more in your brain? Lacking empathy is about the sum of these previous bad leadership traits and also shows a lack of accountability and lack of self leadership. Fixing this trait means you have to pay attention to your employees, ramp your awareness of your team and organization, and drop the judgment when you don’t agree with others.

Leadership has an ugly side and some people relish in being a bad boss. See where you might have an issue here so that you can stomp it out at your organization. Better leaders lead to a more engaged staff.

Making decisions never gets easier.

It doesn’t matter whether you have a team of advisors, a staff of trusted confidants and a handy-dandy rubric from Pinterest because when the heat is on and you have to pick the best option, staying cool is the best route instead of getting crispy. But why is it getting hot in here?

Managers like you have to deal with the fiery symphony of personal traits, biases, financials, politics and the consequences, all which factor into confusing the process of choice. You may have had a moment that ushered a bad decision like these here:

• Sitting on your hands too long and waiting for the decision to carry itself out
• Trusting your gut and not even considering information at all
• Leaping before looking (it doesn’t just apply to jumping into water)
• Running away… because that’s just what a great leader does right?

The burden of a decision is heavy, especially if you feel like you have to pick a fork in the road. A cause of bad decisions is a lack of control.

There is a little trick—a blast from the past— you should employ right now to help you make better decisions.

Stop. Drop. Roll.

Yes, that. Sound familiar?

It is the fire safety maneuver we’re taught as kids to help put out a fire on your own body. Decision making can feel like you’re on fire because of the anxiety from feeling overwhelming heat and the need to act quickly and put it out. Let’s break down why this simple technique is the trick to making decisions.

1. Stop to assess what is going on. The right choice is plain as day however with so many external and internal factors thrust upon you that it’s tough figuring out if your option is the right one.
2. Drop everything that contradicts leading to the right (and best) conclusion. This can even mean letting go of internal biases, time consuming activities that have held you back from being a better leader.
3. Roll around to smother the source of the flames charring your bum. You need to wrestle away the things that are getting in your way.

Now that you’re not on fire, you can make the decision ahead more clearly with a calm line of thought and you can do it on your terms. Select your path without pressure and hopefully without regret.

Managers like you have a lot on their plate every day because they’re not delegating responsibilities to their employees. Some managers like to think they’re Superman or Wonder Woman—bearing the weight of the world as the hero of humanity. In reality, that weight can crush you because you’re still human. Taking on too many responsibilities will burn you out faster than a short-fuse firecracker.

Those managers don’t recognize the use of their employees. The team wants to be utilized to their fullest potential and it is a key reason why you need to delegate out responsibilities. Don’t confuse delegation with dictation. Delegation is providing work to employees based on trust in their abilities. Dictation is shelling out busy work that you won’t do yourself. Check out these four advantages of delegating responsibilities.

Proper delegating prevents control freak habits

One of the barriers of performing effective delegation is managers feeling nonessential after surrendering over a task to their employee. This is so far from the truth. Releasing control is an intangible display of strength, rather than clutching to paranoia. Dictators need to control everything, but this is not going to be you. You delegate based on specific objectives and recommend solutions to your team.

Reduces risk of burning out

The purpose of delegating is also to unload things from your plate and it’s a valuable advantage for your health. You risk burnout by trying to do everything yourself. Start recognizing the symptoms sooner than later. Handling everything is not a great sign of a leader nor is overworking so much that you never feel anything gets done. Your team either can’t see it or won’t muster the guts to tell you out of respect.

Delegating frees time to create

Your employees weren’t hired just because of their stellar personalities—they have a unique set of skills that makes them a dream for people like you. Delegating duties according to their skills ultimately free up your time to focus on broader strategies and securing resources to carry out your plans. Though you are the manager, they specialize in a particular area for which you hired them. Use them—all of them.

Boosts morale across the team

Delegating responsibility means you trust your employees with autonomy. Studies reveal this autonomy can result in a higher commitment to doing their best work first and benefiting your organization. Employees would even be more inclined to take action beyond their job descriptions. Giving responsibility makes your team hungrier for more and you should give it to them, if they can handle it.

Good leadership isn’t about doing everything yourself but rather employing strategies that gets everything done by the right people. Delegation isn’t the way to pass on work or reign over your team. Take advantage of releasing some responsibilities for your own well being and to further empower your team.