5 signs you're a lousy boss

Flickr user pboyd04

(Money Watch) COMMENTARY Everyone has horror stories about bad bosses. Then when we become the boss, we tend to think that we're only doing what is necessary and, by the way, that employees cause all the problems.

Thing is, part of a manager's job is to handle bad employees; an employee shouldn't have to handle a bad boss. So how do you know if you are one? Here are five signs that you're failing in your job as a manager. 

1. Your employees lie to you. This may sound like a bad employee problem, but why do they need to lie to you? Do you make unreasonable demands? Punish people excessively for mistakes? Interrogate them over why they need time off? These things all create a culture where your employees feel the only way they can get what they need is to lie. A culture of openness and understanding makes for employees who will speak honestly with you.

2. No other managers want to poach your employees. A good manager develops good employees. Other managers want good employees. If you are developing good employees, your peers will express interest in working with them. If you spend more time trying to get rid of bad employees than trying to keep your good ones, the problem may be with you.

3. You always have emergencies. Business is sometimes unpredictable. And clients? They're not always forthcoming with their true needs and desires. But the fact that things are unpredictable is, well, predictable. As a manager, it's your job to assess the situation and plan in advance. Occasional emergencies are understandable, but constant ones mean that you're not doing what you need to do. Sometimes that involves pushing back against your superiors and protecting your people. It means scheduling according to actual needs, and if you don't have the budget for that it often means changing the definition of need.

4. You always ask yourself "what can I legally do?" rather than "what should I do?" Yes, you have to follow the law. But just because you can tell an employee to cancel their vacation or stay late when they have plans doesn't mean you should. Just because you can fire someone for no reason whatsoever doesn't mean you should fire someone because you feel like it. 

5. You steal credit. Some managers try to impress their bosses by taking credit for everyone's work. This won't only backfire on you when your star employee quits and suddenly your boss is asking for all that work that "you" used to do, but will cause your employees to resent you. Managers are supposed to manage people. Showing that you are capable of hiring, developing, training, and guiding people who are doing great work is what your superiors want to see. 

Certainly this list is not exhaustive, but take a quick look at yourself and see if you fall into any of these categories. If so, stop it and change your behavior. You'll be surprised at how your employees respond to your improved management skills.

Have a workplace dilemma? Send your questions to [e-mail].

Image courtesy of Flickr user pboyd04

[Darltk40]

These are some good points. Managers that go by the book are interesting characters. I also feel that bad management places reigns on their employees. Employees do not feel comfortable expressing opinions due to negative reinforcement. The overall, absolute worse Boss is one that dictates every move. They want to know what is going on for any and everything.

[PerlJunkie]

I can think of far worse reasons. Instead of your employees lying to you, the boss lies. That's a far better indicator (and one I've recently experienced). No other managers want to pooch you because you are misrepresented to other managers (had that happen as well -- more lying). Freaks out easily and everything is an emergency. Or it has to be HIS idea and no other options or input really exists. Have to stroke his ego and make him feel important. Gets mad when you don't realize how important he is, bow down and kiss the ring on his big toe. People probably think I'm making this up. Really happened. Some people are real pieces of work. And you wonder how in the world they got to where they are being so horrible at managing people?! Let's talk about their relationships upward... Yes men to his boss. Brown noser supreme. Amazing companies can't sniff through this kind of stuff. When employees are literally walking out the door with NO NOTICE, you'd think companies would remediate. NOPE.

[DarthTouma]

Another sign.. if your mantra is "Because I'm the boss.." Literal quote..

[ssensat]

Great blog post! In response to #2... If you're a manager and no one is trying to poach you, then you might be a bad boss. As a manager, when is the last time you were recruited by someone? If we haven't been recruited in the past 5 years it might be a sign that others may know something we don't.

[LuciusDark]

Here's the NUMBER ONE sign to are a bad boss - Mandatory Meetings. If people won't come to your meetings voluntarily it means one of more of the following - you don't provide any useful information, people don't want to hear your 'philosophy' again, you haven't earned their respect, you lie to them and they hate you. Mandatory meetings are a sign of very weak management skills.

[LuciusDark]

The worst bosses are those in small companies. People who inherit large amounts of money and buy a business are nearly always bad bosses - because they didn't work for the money and didn't earn their position. The same thing can be said for the bosses' son or daughter - possibly the absolute worst bosses in history.

[Bruno_I]

What a list! And all those signs are so familiar. I've suffered especially from a bragging credit-stealer. I think most lousy bosses aren't "bad to the bone". Many simply can't cope with the responsibility, pressure gets to them. Under pressure, many behave like kids, like little spoiled brats. I've been seeing this idea quite a lot recently - bad boss behavior as kids acting out, like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VTiAuCv3EQ
I especially like the way it's presented in www.tameyourtot.com blog by Lynn Taylor. She offers good techniques for employees to manage up their "office tyrants". I wonder what the author thinks of this idea.

[cqui2004]

I've had my fair share of bad bosses but the blame for having one within the company is their boss. No one admits it but the blame has to go up the ladder, not down!

[Suzanne Lucas]

I totally agree with the blame going up the ladder and not down.

[sjlefthand]

I have had plenty of bad bosses during my working years. To deal with that problem, I did the following: (1) I saved and invested my money well. (2) I never got married so that a potential spouse never could tell me how to spend my money. (3) I never had children as children are a financial burden. I now am semi-retired and am financially independent. I do work part-time. However, I have two great supervisors who treat me well. In any case, I will stop working completely within the next 5 to 8 1/2 years.

[vinkoont]

I'm not sure your path to success will work for most people. A spouse should be more than a threat to financial independence, and children are so much more than financial burdens. I guess if that is how you see them, it's best that you never had either. I think more people look at their career as enabling their family and other interests, rather than looking at family and other interests as threats to their careers

[georgianaflorina]

I dare to add:
1. Your employees are demotivated
2. Your employees are bored on the job
3. Your employees waste company time dealing with personal matters
4. Your employees don't care about the company or the team and are interested in personal development only
5. Your employees are constantly late for work
6. Your employees avoid company events
7. Your employees are constantly browsing job portals in search of new jobs

[sjlefthand]

You are completely right, especially with item number 7. When people are looking regularly for a new job, they typically are unhappy with their current job.

[Suzanne Lucas]

That's a great list. Thanks for adding to mine. I especially agree with the bored thing. Some boredom is inevitable. (Some things just have to get done.) But, constant boredom is a sign of bad management.

[[e-mail]]

Thank you SL, this is a valuable topic. I would like to add,
- you are the boss and you see unhappiness in your team. The problem has to be you and not the team.
- you do not know how to engage with people in your team and do not know what questions to ask them and how (in the line of work). This problem comes when the manager knows the outcomes that he seeks but doesn't know the pathway to that, creates huge pressure in the team without realizing that he is the problem.

[Suzanne Lucas]

Sometimes it's best to let the employees figure out the pathway. But, of course, you run into conflict if the manager is playing a "please read my mind" thing, not telling what he/she wants but rejecting any suggestion that doesn't match.