Bad Manager Vs Great Leader 7 Quick Ways to Spot the Difference

We all know a bad manager when we see one, even worse when we work for one.?But can we all differentiate between a bad manager and a great leader??I have worked for some great leaders over the years (and currently), but I wanted to provide some of my thoughts on the 7 quick ways to spot the difference between a bad manager and a great leader.??

For each category, I am going to lay out both the bad and the good.?If you are doing any of the bad then look to the good as ways to change, simple really!

1- Communication

Bad managers?- Simply put, bad managers want to communicate in one way, to tell you what to do.?They are prone to close down discussions, and perhaps worse, move team discussions to private 1-2-1 channels.?They get to control the information flow this way and isolate team members so they can exert power and control 1-2-1.?Another trait I have observed is that bad managers use structured staff meetings as a way to control the information flow, they broadcast rather than encourage team member-to-member discussions.?On your next team call see how much time the manager talks relative to the team chatting with each other.?If the balance is off, proceed with caution, bad manager ahead. Another surefire way to spot a bad manager is bad email etiquette, the bad manager doesn’t loop in the team and hardly ever CC’s the team. This approach comes from one place - the need to be in control of information.?It is never an accident that someone got missed off an email thread, it was always intentional.?If you are always out of the loop and have to ask your manager to know what is going on they are exerting knowledge power.

It is not just written communication flows where bad manager behaviour manifests itself.?One example is the check-in call or meeting.?A bad manager never calls to check in for no reason, the bad manager never asks “what are you working on and how can I help?”?Why would they??They don’t actually want to help; they want you to do as you are told and complete the tasks you are given and they don’t care about why you are failing.

Great leaders?- The exact opposite of the above is true when you look at how great leaders communicate.?Great leaders over-communicate, they are always micro-communicating.?They always respond on tools like Slack or text.?Great leaders loop in the team early and at every opportunity.?Great leaders actively look to encourage a free flow of ideas, they want the team to talk to each other, and not flow everything through them, put simply information is not power to the great leader, so they don’t need to know everything or be the hub for communication.?Great leaders encourage debate and free-flowing discussion amongst the team, and actively look for ways to involve people early and often.?Great leaders look to push others forward with statements such as “I don’t know, Bill/Sally/Claire can you take that one you are the expert.”

Great leaders call all the time to check in for no reason apart from the fact that they want to help.?Great leaders genuinely care about your ability to get a job done, not just the task completion date.?Great leaders will call in the car, call late at night, say “hey can we chat first thing in the morning” because they want to be available to you to help…

2 - Minimise Vs Maximise

Bad Managers -?Minimising staff is a subtle game, one great example is reminding people of their job title so that the scope of their work stays in its lane.?Bad managers look to close down side projects because this would allow an employee to grow, get wider experience and meet new people. This is counter to the bad manager’s view of the role of an employee. Bad managers look for ways to keep people at their current level.?Another key trait of the bad manager is to always delay opportunities for growth or advancement.?You will hear the bad leader say “you can grow into that in time..”?while never giving any clarification on the timeline or clear steps on how to get to the next level.?The bad manager wants you to be defined by your job title (which is subordinate to theirs) and not stray outside of the lines.

Great Leaders?- A great leader will always look to actively encourage people to; do new things, side projects, for ways for people to get to the next role or level, and accelerate their team's growth.?Great leaders see personal growth as a key measure of their ability to lead.?The great leader wants you to outgrow your current role, they are planning what is next for you and coaching you on how to get there.

3 - Information Arbitrage

Bad Managers -?Information is power, and their ability to manage is driven by the fact that they know things others don’t.?Bad managers avoid tools like Trello and Astana as these tools promote sideways transparency and the bad manager always wants to be the only person who knows what is going on.?Put another way the bad manager encourages ‘hub-and-spoke’ style management where teammates are discouraged from going directly to each other and are encouraged to go to the manager for everything.

Great Leaders?- The best leaders are looking for the team to operate on a higher level.?The great leader will actively encourage the sideways sharing of information, and they will actively embrace tools that foster collaboration.?The greatest leaders will consider it a failure if they are the only person who knows something.

4 - Team Dynamic

Bad Managers -?Use team dynamics to reinforce their status.?Bad Managers encourage teammates to snitch on other teammates to curry favour and ensure they are always in control. While this is obviously toxic for the team it is a great way for the bad manager to divide and conquer their team. Bad managers leverage the team as their eyes and ears so they can be the focal point for knowledge flows.?Bad managers rely on one or two trusted employees to tell them everything that is going on.?If you are concerned about how to spot this team dynamic, does your boss have a person on the team who tells them everything about what is going on??

Great Leaders?- Great leaders see everyone on the team as key contributors, they want the whole team to perform at the highest level.?The Marines say it best ‘no soldier left behind’.?You will see the best leader actively dropping back to help the teammate who is struggling. If a teammate starts to struggle the great leader will drop everything and get stuck in, without fanfare, to help that person get the task done.??

Great leaders hate gossiping and backstabbing.?A great leader wants transparency and openness in team communication.?The best leaders want the team to have open and frank discussions when something is wrong so the team can fix it as a team.?Blame is worthless to a great leader.?The failing always sits with the leader, not the employee - “what did I do as a leader to allow this to happen?” is the mantra rather than individual employee balm assignment.

5 - Comfort with Knowledge, Theirs and That of Others

Bad Managers?- The worst managers often start sentences with “I know” and shy away from giving their employees an opportunity to demonstrate that they know more than they do about a particular topic.?Bad managers continually remind people of their experience or where they gained their knowledge in order to demonstrate their prowess - “I am an expert in this topic, I have been doing it for the last two decades” is a phrase to look for. When the team is looking to get to the nub of an issue outside the comfort zone of the manager, they will frequently look to pivot a group discussion back to them or move the discussion along.?Even worse is when a subordinate is in the limelight on their specialist subject the bad manager hates this, as they perceive this as their weakness.?When the team’s attention is not on the manager and on the smart employee this is the most uncomfortable time for a bad manager.

Great Leaders?- Great leaders actively encourage experts to take the floor, they push them forward and then encourage them to shine.?Great leaders look for experts to augment the group, they also want their team to be perceived as experts.?Great leaders regularly say “I don’t actually know… you should ask Bill/Sally/Claire they know more about this than me.”?Great leaders love the reflective glory that seeing one of their team be seen as an expert brings.

6 - Knowledge Flex

Bad managers?- A bad manager always wants to be seen to know everything about every topic. If a team member shows any new skill or domain knowledge the bad manager tends to demonstrate that they know that skill too and have in-depth domain knowledge.?Watch for the new team member who joins the team and what happens - does your manager instantly become an expert in everything that the new team member knows??This is the bad manager exerting dominance and control by asserting that the manager is the most knowledgeable person on every topic.

Great Leaders?- The greatest leaders look for people to augment skills and knowledge they don’t have.?They actively seek out experts in areas where they are weak.?The greatest of leaders then shout about how the team levelled up by adding Bill/Sally/Claire to the team and will highlight how everyone on the team should chat to the new person when looking for domain knowledge on the new area.?Great leaders build multi-discipline teams and look to acknowledge what they are good at and then get others to fill in the gaps.

7 - When The Team Wins, Everyone Wins

Bad Managers?- The worst managers look to highlight wins or losses in personal terms rather than as a team. If the team succeeded it was all about how great a job they did if the team fails it is never their fault and someone is always to blame.?It was never a collective team effort.

Bad managers feel uncomfortable if an employee gets external recognition, it is the job of the manager to control who gets praise and when.?The bad manager wants any win to be assigned to them first, and then passed downward.?Bad managers hate employees doing well on rankings or league tables or even worse winning awards.?This is a success that is acknowledged by others and makes the employee get an elevated view of their success.

Great Leaders?- The greatest leaders shout about the successes of their employees; they want accolades to flow.?A great leader will look for ways for the team to get external recognition.?Speaking engagements at conferences will be encouraged, industry awards will be applauded.?The greatest leaders want everyone on the team to be seen by external stakeholders as rock stars.

In Conclusion?

We all know a bad manager and the most unfortunate amongst us, we have worked for one in the past.?What is harder to spot is the great leader as they are fewer and further between.?Take a look at the points raised above and if you see too many of the bad manager traits in your current leader then it is time to start looking for a new job in 2023.