JBM HR Consulting Inc.
JBM HR Consulting Inc.
August 2014


A recently article in SHRM August 2014 HR Magazine on Organizational & Employee Development, sparked me to write more about this topic.  I deal with issues related to different styles of leadership all the time through my consulting work.  I prefer not to call them "bad bosses" but rather those that could use some guidance, coaching, training and role modeling.  "Bad bosses" are perceived as "those that abuse their power and authority to intimidate employees".SHRM D.Meinert  In this informative article there were Five Types of Bad Bosses identified.

There are some classic "types of bosses" often referred to such as:
Bully Boss - This type of boss approaches dissatisfaction with staff decisions in an aggressive, often insulting manner.  This is felt through word choice, tone and body language.  Can you just see it?  Such bosses create tension and anxiety reducing the likelihood of the results he/she seeks which is improved performance.  Staff tend to dread coming to work and lose a significant level of confidence.  Intimidation and public humiliation is common practice.  Such behavior is counterproductive in many ways and can cause a "hostile work environment".

Micromanager Boss - Bosses of this type have little confidence in the skills of his/her staff.  They tend to "hover" over them and often impose their own style making changes to how staff believe their work can be achieved. Such bosses rather do things themselves than teach or inspire others to improve and learn.  They fear failure and often very poor at team building.  I like this analogy "A good manager should be like a baseball coach, if the coach stands in the way, you'll never be able to get to first base".  (d.mencke)  What "bosses" need to realize is that their primary purpose is to develop their staff.  Developing professionals is best accomplished through guidance, mentoring and inspiring staff to grow in their positions.

Workaholic Boss - This is the boss who emails staff at odd hours of the night and expect an immediate response.  Such bosses are notorious for giving last minute assignments and have (often aggressive/unrealistic) timeframe for them to be accomplished.    When such bosses expect staff to respond at all hours of the night an intervention is a good idea.  These are inappropriate and unreasonable expectations.

By the Number Boss - This is the type of boss that spends most of the time reviewing reports and analytics. They often do not have strong people skills making it hard to develop a team or motivate others.   There are very few types of professions where this type of boss is effective but those that are high level needing minimal coaching can do ok with this type of leadership.  Such bosses prefer to delegate their power to others to "co manage" recognizing their lack of desire to deal with people at such levels. This generally doesn't work well among coworkers who will likely resent such delegation of power. 

Divisive Boss - This type of boss plays favorites.  Such bosses often show favoritism by informal gatherings, out to lunch etc with some staff and not others.  This is often a problem for those promoted from within, buddy to boss, having previously been friends with co workers who he/she now manages.  This is the type of personality that tends to be "cliquish".  One way to balancing this "error" in management is to have such types manage people he/she didn't previously have relationships with.

We can all identify with some of a few of these types of bosses.  I believe that most of them can be "fixed" if they have a sincere desire to change and grow. Through effective Leadership Coaching many have gone from one of the above types to some of the strongest of leaders.

As an organization, it is important to identify styles of leadership and move to develop each and every one of them despite their style.  Optimal performance cannot be achieved without strong leadership direction and building strong teams of individual performers.



 
JBM HR Consulting Inc.
The High Cost of a Bad Boss
Again referring to the SHRM article on the topic mentioned above there is a cost to ignoring shortcomings in management style.

"Only 30% of US workers are engaged at work, according to 2012 gallup studies.
Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores.
Disengagement caused by bad boss managers costs US businesses up to $450 billion a year according to Gallup." (D Meinert shrm article)

Bottom line:  Take the steps and time to develop your managers at all levels.  It is both cost effective and necessary to optimize performance!
Learn a bit more about coaching by either contacting me or go to Leadership Coaching.
 
Warm regards,
 

Jeannine Brown Miller, MA, SPHR President, OD Consultant
JBM HR Consulting Inc.