Bad Bosses - Part 1

“People don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses”

I’m sure you have heard that more than once. I certainly have, and even though the reality is not quite that black and white, there is truth in that.

Leadership is not easy. Bosses are human and all humans have their insecurities. If someone needs to be micromanaging or shows distrust in their team, it can be a sign of not trusting their ability to manage the situation and/or not feeling supported enough by their boss. If these kinds of issues are not addressed the situation can keep snowballing, eventually escalating and eating more of the self-confidence that was there and making the situation even worse.

One of the problems with leadership is that there is more need for leaders than there are people who are good at it. Based on a study I saw a few years back and my own experience, there are many people in the wrong place. Many who would be great at leading a team are not given the chance and then others shouldn't be given one but have been, and because of that it is easy for them to get new ones. For some reason, the experience of something in a CV seems to imply for many recruiting that someone is good at it.

Even if someone who shows potential gets a chance to prove themselves, they will need support and training for it, some more than others. When you work with people, you can’t afford to learn everything from mistakes and some of us don’t learn it even from those.

Leading adults can be compared to parenting and neither comes with a manual. You can read as much theory as you want, but you can never be fully prepared for what is coming because every human being is different. Still, being prepared will save you from a lot of headaches and mistakes. One of my workplaces never promoted from the team and instead hired team leaders from maternity leave because, as well as helping moms to get back to work, the bosses knew that you need a lot of the same skills to lead little humans as you do to lead bigger ones.

I have worked with someone who everyone was laughing at for his very unique way to do things which was like chaotic micromanagement most of the time. Even his boss occasionally found him entertaining. It seemed like he needed a lot of guidance from the boss instead of laughing but I don’t know how much of it he got. We can never know if someone is just not able to change their ways or if they are not getting the support they need. In any case, in both cases, the whole team suffers. I have also worked with people who deserved a demotion but were kept where they were, and again, the team suffered. In those cases, it tends to be best to move them to another team where they can use another skillset like one of my other previous colleagues who suddenly bloomed elsewhere instead of being the laughingstock of the entire team.

“Leadership is an elusive concept, hard to describe and impossible to prescribe. It is more evident in its absence, so that when leadership is needed, its lack is sorely felt.”

-Patrick Dobson

If there is a team that outgrows its current structure it is worth thinking twice how it should be re-planned. Do you split it into teams that would make sense in an obvious way or do it in another that your current staffing is more suitable for? I have seen the first with not the best results. When you have someone who deserves a promotion and more challenging tasks it still doesn’t mean they want to or are good at leading a team. In that case, it will be more useful to move them sideways and if needed, to create that position for them, leaving space for people who are better and more willing to lead a team. You can always make adjustments later. Staying agile can bring better results instead of forcing things into a box that serves you only in theory.

If you are promoting, offer the support and guidance to go with it. If you have been recently promoted, congratulations! Ask for help and training if those are not offered. You will be glad you did and so will your team. If you have a leader you think would benefit from training let your HR team know, it doesn’t have to be in a way that is targeted at anyone specifically. You can even say that you are interested in your development and would be interested in leadership training and maybe suggest some that the company could offer for everyone. In the worst case, if nothing changes and you'll look for a new place to work, maybe you will end up with a great boss who will make you glad you made the move. A company that lets bad bosses stay bad bosses doesn't deserve people who will work better under better management.