Managers Behaving Badly: Navigating the Rise of Stress-Driven Misconduct in the Modern Workplace

Managers Behaving Badly: Navigating the Rise of Stress-Driven Misconduct in the Modern Workplace

There is an unsettling rise in ‘managers behaving badly’ – stress-driven outbursts, finger-pointing, and even bullying behaviours – that can poison the workplace atmosphere, leaving lasting impacts on teams, morale, and productivity.

Understanding the ‘Bad Behaviour’ Syndrome

Stress has a way of stripping away our best selves, and when leaders face sustained pressures without adequate training or support, they may fall into unproductive, even toxic behaviours. Without tools like self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience training, managers risk letting stress cloud their judgment, leading to:

Finger-Pointing and Blame Shifting: When under pressure, managers might deflect responsibility onto others to protect themselves, often damaging trust within teams.

• Outbursts and Emotional Instability: In high-stress moments, some managers lose composure, raising voices, or resorting to harsh criticism, contaminating the culture with fear rather than fostering collaboration.
• Reactive Decision-Making: Stress can impair critical thinking, leading to impulsive choices that overlook long-term consequences and undermine strategic goals.

Such behaviours spread like a virus through the organisation, affecting morale, engagement, and ultimately, productivity. Team members may mirror these behaviours, perpetuating a cycle of stress-induced discord. And when the bad behaviour is tolerated without consequence, it signals to others that such conduct is acceptable.

Why Managers Struggle to Stay Grounded

Few organisations proactively equip their leaders with the skills necessary to navigate stress and turbulence effectively. For many managers, handling the technical demands of their role is easier than managing their own emotional responses.

Without proper training in resilience, self-awareness, and emotional regulation, they are ill-equipped to lead effectively in high-pressure situations. Some of the underlying issues contributing to these challenges include:

• Lack of Self-Awareness Training: Without self-awareness, managers can become oblivious to their impact on others, creating a disconnection between their actions and their outcomes.
• Absence of Stress Management Skills: When managers haven’t developed tools to handle their stress, it overflows, manifesting in toxic behaviours that contaminate the environment.
• Minimal Accountability for Behaviour: In some organisations, behaviour is judged less critically than results. This can create an environment where “success at any cost” excuses poor conduct, leading to unchecked misbehaviour.
• Limited Support for Emotional Regulation: Few organisations offer training in emotional intelligence, leaving managers with limited ability to remain composed under pressure.

The Cost of Ignoring Bad Behaviour

The repercussions of manager misconduct ripple throughout the company. Beyond the immediate impact on morale, there are tangible business costs, including but not limited to:

• Reduced Employee Engagement: Toxic behaviour drives disengagement, with employees feeling unsupported or fearful. Engaged employees are productive; disengaged ones are not.
• Higher Turnover Rates: Bad behaviour from managers often leads employees to seek healthier environments elsewhere, increasing turnover costs and loss of knowledge.
• Damage to Organisational Reputation: Word travels fast in the age of social media. Poor management behaviour can damage a company’s reputation, making it difficult to attract top talent.
• Escalation of Issues: The longer misconduct or toxic behaviour is ignored, the more entrenched and widespread it becomes, making it significantly harder and more expensive to resolve.
• Decline in Team Performance: Persistent bad behaviour disrupts teamwork, collaboration, and productivity, creating a cascade of inefficiency that impacts overall organisational success.
• Resignation of Talent: The complexity and unique skills of talented employees often make them irreplaceable, leaving organisations struggling with fragmented task allocation and reduced effectiveness.

Four Key Questions for Managers to Reflect On

1. ?How does my behaviour under stress affect my team’s morale and productivity?
2. When I feel under pressure, do I turn to blame or frustration rather than problem-solving?
3. How often do I check in with myself to evaluate whether my actions align with leadership values?
4. Do I believe that success should come at any cost, or do I hold myself accountable for both results and relationships?

Start a conversation

It would be great to hear your thoughts. How do you view managers behaving badly in today's turbulent economy and with what consequences for their company's stakeholders, e.g. clients, shareholders, directors, staff, service and product providers?

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