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5 Actions to Earn "Bad Boss" Title
Is moving into the position of managing people an elevation of your career status? Not always.
There are many who are quite successful and find rewarding careers in being individual contributors. Others measure their level of success by making the transition into people management, first starting out with one or two direct reports and eventually adding more direct and indirect reports. However, making the transition into people manage, does come with risks. You transition from one set of eyes, your boss, watching your every move (for better or worse), to multiple sets of eyes, your employees, again watching your every move. Can you stand up to the scrutiny? Here are 5 surefire actions that will ensure your new title of BAD BOSS: Playing Favorites If you are managing more than one person and you show any favoritism to one over the other, you are on a slippery slope. As a manager, all eyes are on you. This can be from the unintended office banter or an occasional lunch to assigning work. If you spend more time socializing with one or two over all others, they will notice. If you give one or two all the cool, challenging, or high profile projects, they will notice. Over time, the non-favored employees will become disgruntled and react accordingly. If you like to lunch with your team individually, make sure no one is left out. Extend invitations to each individual. Pay attention to your actions as they may have unintended consequences. Similarly, assign projects and tasks that are interesting, challenging and align with each individuals career goals. Each individual should be given an opportunity to tackle new technologies or high impact programs. Poor Communicating This could be a post all on its own (and might be). In people management, the worst communication offense is two-fold. One, worsening action #1 by only giving your favorites important information (this includes: individual/group/department/division/company). Two, giving each employee a little bit of information, but never sharing the full story. Part of building a positive working relationship with your employees is providing context. Context on how their project or piece of the project ties to the larger goal or broader initiatives. Don’t just “tell” them and walk away. Engage in conversation. Provide an opportunity for them to ask questions. Discuss each assignment with each individual, and then pull them together as a group for an open forum. This upfront investment will help clarify objectives, identify potential peaks and valleys, and build a trusting foundation. Behaving Unprofessionally Your peers today could be your manager tomorrow, or vice-versa. As a manager, you are never off-duty. There is always someone watching you. Actually, it is what you do when you think that no one is watching you that gives the greatest insight into the “who” of you. Don’t gossip. Treat everyone professionally. Watch your temper. Avoid snide comments, at all cost. They are the easiest thing to repeat. They become the sound bite of you. As a general rule, if your mom would be proud of you do it, if not…don’t. Controlling A key to effective people management is to delegate. It empowers employees and builds trust. You cannot do everything! Once you overcome the hurdle of delegation, you cannot be into all of the details. If you micro-manage, you will suffocate the team as well as stifle their creativity. Think more of yourself as a safety net. Depending on the experience of the team members you might be 3 feet below or 30 feet below. Either way, you’ll catch them if they fall, while giving them the room to fly! Lying Don’t do it. Ever. The end result will be far worse and more far reaching than just being labeled a BAD BOSS. I know there are many more characteristics of a BAD BOSS. These are 5 of the biggies. What would you add, let us know below. For more, watch our video How to deal with a BAD BOSS. Is this helpful? Please let us know in the comments your thoughts on this as well as other ways we can help you with your career and training. The author, Diahann Boock, is the founder of Women's Ally. For information about working with Diahann, check out our Programs. blog comments powered by Disqus |