5 Subtle Signs You’ve Got a Bad Boss
The number of bad bosses might be on the rise in these tough times. But the red flags of one are not always obvious.
In these tense times, and with their ranks being thinned, perfectly good managers can become “bad bosses,” calling on Sundays, obsessing over irrelevant details, or yelling. But if a boss is bad like that then it’s easy to notice. Indeed, about half of people who quit cite their manager as at least some of the reason.
The problem is most bosses aren’t cartoonishly bad. Some might just not be happy with your performance. Even legitimately-bad bosses are not consistently terrible; They might praise you one day but then exclude you from a critical meeting the next. Experts say it’s important to catch the issues early on before they become a serious problem. Here are several subtle red flags.
They avoid face time.
These days, managers can be legitimately hard to find – the compression of org charts at many organizations means that many middle managers are directly overseeing far more employees than they were just a few years ago. Sure, bosses might send emails, texts, or messages in internal chatrooms, but when it comes to face-to-face contact, they seem to always be unavailable. Granted, managers can be as overworked as anyone else, and some may take the position that more autonomy is better than less. But not making time for employees is a major red flag.
They obsess over appearances.
Beware of managers who frame every decision, whether it is good business or not, according to how it makes them look to their bosses. Korn Ferry career coach David Meintrup describes managers of this type as “credit stealers” and “blame shifters,” depending on what the situation calls for, and says that they can cripple engagement, trust, and credibility. “Managers who are obsessed with how they appear to their bosses usually don’t care about how you appear to them,” he says.
They block you from meeting your goals.
A close relation of the appearance-obsessed manager is the boss who holds employees back, often out of fear of losing a productive worker. “Gen Z is restless for development,” says Roger Philby, global leader of Korn Ferry’s People Strategy and Performance practice. Experts say an employee should consider it a warning sign if a manager won’t make time to help guide their career with additional opportunities, stretch assignments, or even networking opportunities.
They’re gossipmongers.
How would it feel if someone shared something your spouse told them that was entirely different from what they said to you? Employees feel the same way when they hear something from other employees that their manager has never mentioned before, particularly if relates to their performance. “It’s an authenticity killer,” says Meintrup. And, like most gossip, it eventually will get out. In an era where employees expect transparency and communication, it’s a bad sign when managers tell their team or employees one thing and other people something else.
They don’t respect boundaries.
A random call from your boss on the Sunday evening before a big presentation is one thing. Dozens of regular after-hours messages featuring mundane requests are something else entirely. Whether unconsciously or purposefully, a manager who doesn’t respect healthy work-life boundaries is one of the biggest causes of employees leaving.
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