How to Tell If You Are a Terrible Boss

Summary: Bad bosses don’t usually know they are bad, but there are some clear signs that you can look out for to know if you fall in the bad boss category.

Knowing you are a bad boss can be difficult to know since none of your employees should blatantly tell you. If they do, you are either a really bad boss or have other problems that you need to deal with.

1. Your team lacks unity. A boss is supposed to find ways to bring team together. When one person complains about your management style, you don’t need to worry. When every member of the team complaining or quitting, then you know you need to change your style. You can’t please everyone but you should be able to make everyone satisfied.
2. Not treating your employees as people. We know that meeting quotas is a big part of your role but when you fail to understand that your employees are humans not robots. We are constantly affected by life; there is no way to avoid that. When a typically productive worker suddenly stops being a hard worker, talk to them and see what is going on in their life. Don’t become nosy and pry but make it known that you are someone they can talk to. Things will be a lot better in the office you give that person time off to sort out their affairs then to fire them. Compassion can go a long way to making your employees more loyal and productive.
3. Along with remembering that your employees are human is remembering that they are all individuals that think and act differently. Just because you are putting in long hours does not mean you should expect your employees to. Everyone works at different speeds and with different methods. Respect your employees and how they best work.
4. Are you setting your standards high in an effort to make your employees achieve excellence? Has anyone been able to meet your standards or have you made them unrealistically high? You need to be setting goals that are realistic, such as setting a monthly sales goal that is just a little above the company’s highest month record. Unrealistic goals will make your employees even less motivated because they know no matter how hard they try that they won’t reach it.
5. Be able to help out doing the same tasks your employees are expected to complete each day but be careful not to start micromanaging them. A good boss knows how to delegate and trust that their team can work on their own.
6. Everyone makes mistakes, even you. If you are unable to admit that you made a mistake then you will have a tough time being a good boss. Take responsibility when things don’t go right, especially when it was your call. Praise your employees for working hard and making a good sales pitch.
7. If you are the boss but don’t want to be, it is very likely that you aren’t a good one either. Just because someone is a top employee does not automatically qualify them for management positions. Take a good hard look at yourself and decide if you took the position as the boss for a salary raise or because you actually want to excel in the position. If you don’t care about the responsibility of being the boss then step down before you are fired.

Photo: forbes.com