Article Contributed by Patrick Panuncillon
The problem is not them; it’s YOU!
You’re done working with the most monstrous bosses of all times. You probably swore to yourself that when that time comes where you’re the one managing people, you will do things differently. That day has now come – you’re already a boss.
You may have good intentions like an all-expense paid team building for the top performing department or a company outing in its founding anniversary. But how can you implement all of those when there is a stack of emails, meetings, phone calls and a whole bunch of demanding clients and tough decisions that were supposed to be due last week?
With all that’s happening, do you still have the time and energy to think if you’re a kind and compassionate boss? Imagining how hard it is to balance the success of your business and your employees’ jobs (including those lazy employees that are bringing you a headache and not to mention you would love to kick out of your company’s building).
If you have contemplated on this and you think what’s written above is right, then congratulations! You’re one horrible boss! And guess what? You turned out to be one of the persons you despise a lot and promised you would never become.
The perfect dream job does not only include your passion towards what you are doing and a compensation right for your hard work. It should also consist of respectful and polite co-workers and of course, an excellent boss.
Sadly, not every company has this complete package and not all boss will vibes with the applicant. Inevitably, whether we like it or not, it adversely affects the worker’s working experience and worse, the feeling alone of working with a terror boss makes someone want to quit the job.
In this article, we cited ten (10) signs of a horrible boss that you need to check out. Here are some of those:
- You scare everyone (even the pizza delivery boy).
You may have noticed that no one approaches you with a problem at hand for quite some time now, but you just shrugged the idea off. Or how about this, no one has ever thought of initiatives and some creative ideas for your marketing plan either, right? Have you noticed that whenever you enter the conference room, everyone stops talking?
Stop playing naive. You commonly see this in the movies. When everyone in the office laughs exaggeratedly in your “not-so-funny” joke and like everyone agrees with you even if you’re not yet done talking. If this is not surprising for you, then yes, you turned out to be that kind of boss!
Sometimes, people who are in authority forget that commanding with respect has a huge difference scaring employees. Making your employees feel frightened is never funny nor good. This practice creates tension and a barrier between you as an employer and your people as your employees.
- Your employees are busy whenever you’re around.
When you walk around one aisle, and you notice that everyone is busy doing the reports and panics over the smallest problem? Do you feel like your team makes huge decisions without you having any clue what the fuss is?
Maybe it’s not because they despise you. The employees apparently think you are INCOMPETENT.
Being a boss is not easy. No one said it is. You’ve got tons of responsibilities, and you have to play different roles: a boss, a friend, and a shock absorber. But instead of taking it as a challenge, you took it as an opportunity to command and scare everyone.
- You make threats as your employees’ motivation.
Motivation is one of the things that makes a person work harder than he is already doing. Motivation comes in different forms: a salary raise, an incentive, a free team building. But if you think that the best kind of motivation is through threats of firing him or her if he or she messes everything up is a sick idea.
You should never be a boss in the first place if you think of it that way. Creating a positive motivation like rewards and commendations clear away the tension within the workplace and helps in increasing your employees’ self-esteem and energy towards work.
- You want to control everything (including the company janitor’s job).
The normal process is you hire someone because you think he or she is capable of doing the tasks of this job description and he or she has the skills and abilities needed by the company. Therefore, you (as the boss), should not tell him or her what he or she should do.
You should not control his or her actions. By doing this, you are affecting your employee’s self-esteem and personal growth negatively.
One quick tip: It’s never too late to stop being a control freak. Let your employees explore the task and do their ways in completing a particular project. All you have to do is provide an accurate instruction. If they mess up the first time, let them track where they made mistakes on and revise the plan.
- You don’t like hearing and considering the suggestions of others.
Yes, you became a boss because you gathered enough experiences and had the necessary set of skills that your current position is asking. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that because you are the boss – which means you should always lead your employees and everyone should follow you – you’re always right.
You are the one managing the team. And good management means that you have to ask for opinions and suggestions from your team and contemplate on other options for the benefit of your project. After all, the success of your team is also your success.
- You don’t do your job properly (to the extent that a regular employee works harder than you do).
As a boss, you should set a good example for your team, be a role model, honoring your company’s mission and vision. You as the boss should also exert the same level of effort as what your employees are exercising. You should work as hard as they do. Do your part in the project. Don’t pass the responsibility to your teammates.
As what the old proverb says, “Always do for other people everything you want them to do for you.”
- You don’t provide guidance.
Employees in their first job and those who are new to the field need instruction from their co-workers and most especially, from you as their boss. A proper orientation of the responsibilities of the one in charge is necessary and should be conducted like ALWAYS.
You as the boss should check the work of the new employees from time to time and see if they are comfortable with the workload.
- The glass you are watching is always half empty.
Familiar with the quote “The glass is either half empty or half full?” Yes, things in the business world are unpredictable. Several clients are demanding; you have a phone call to make, and on top of that, your employees are taking sick days like unknown cancer had just spread out.
If they are in the office, they are usually late, they leave early, look miserable, and moving deadlines now and then. You caught your most trusted employee surfing for new job opportunities online, and when you create a working crew, someone offers them a new job with higher compensation.
And after that, all the skilled people that you trained will eventually be in the competitor’s empire. But let’s face it, life is never fair. You have to accept it. It’s just mind over matter. If you expect the worst out of something, you’ll end up getting it.
As the boss, you have to set a more optimistic and confident tone for your team, or else expect them to see going out your company’s door. Just like what all the bosses in www.linkvistadigital.com are doing.
It is a company that does seo management and the demand of the workload is not a joke. But instead of letting stress take its toll on their bodies and reprimanding their employees for no reason, they chill out with their employees.
- Your mood swings are as horrible as your overall character.
Have you noticed your employees be most of the time confused, insecure, and jumpy? You’re puzzled because even if everyone is doing a great job and the door of your office is always open for them yet they seem to whisper behind your back and walk tiptoed whenever you are there.
Have you asked yourself if you are the one causing the confusion? Are you like the Sunny Monday, the Grumpy Tuesday, the Empathize Wednesday and so on? Or you can also be all of them at some time or day?
If your mood is something that puzzles everyone, you tend to make them feel like the office is dangerous. Remove the tension by controlling your mood swings. It helps.
Takeaway
As what is in the paragraph above, it is never easy to be a boss. You have to take care of everything – your business, your employees, their jobs, and even their families. All you have to do is watch out of these signs and always strive to balance the stress, pressure, and your relationship with your employees.
Author Bio
As an entrepreneur, Patrick Panuncillon has years of experience in Digital Marketing and founded LinkVista Digital. He also has excellent track records in entrepreneurship. Patrick has handled several campaigns for companies locally and internationally. He also loves to help and guide young people to become effective leaders in their field.