If You Think that Bad Bosses do not Kill You, Think Again!

A 2009 survey in Sweden of 3,122 employees over a 10-year period showed that those with bad bosses were likely to be killed by a heart attack 20-40% more than those who had good bosses! The truth is one does not need a scientific survey to assert this fact: bad bosses can kill you without suffering any legal punishment! Even worse, those who survive the wrath of toxic bosses often lead a miserable life because of the work environment their bosses unwittingly create for their employees: coming home in bad mood, taking out your frustrations on your family, feeling depressed and de-energized about working, resorting to substance abuse as a result, and undermining your boss at work. All these symptoms can stem from only one cause: a bad boss.

Many studies have shown that nearly 80% of employees are unhappy about their jobs. This often results in poor job engagement and the attendant performance that is below average. The same applies to those in managerial position. This 80% number includes everyone in an organization. So, if bosses are included in this calculus then it is clear that nearly equal fraction of bosses are also in that performance category. This means that their performance affects everyone below them.

So, what can you do about a bad boss?

Before answering this question let us examine the behaviors of bad bosses: They typically exhibit the following patterns:

1. Professional incompetence: Often many bad bosses do not understand the technical details of the work content and hence are unable to energize the team from a thought leadership perspective. There is no substitute for expert leadership; no amount of consensus building can compensate for lack of strong technical leadership. Such managers often create mediocre outcomes.
2. Authority over influence:  Bad bosses often wield their managerial power to force things on their subordinates. No resistance is tolerated, even when team members suggest constructive ideas to solve a problem. Because if they do they feel undermined by their own insecurity.
3. Undermining others: Bad managers often openly undermine their own team members in meetings and other public forums to “keep them in their place.” Such behavior often results in team members clamming up, stifling any open exchange of constructive ideas.
4. Failure to Recognize: When someone does a great job and the whole team looks good, the bad manager keeps silent hoping that higher-ups and their peers will see the manager as the hero.
5. Appointing an inferior foil: Bad managers often set themselves up to look good in contrast by appointing even worse employees as their immediate subordinates. They take delight in basking in the glow of how much better they are than their carefully chosen subordinate.
6. Upbraiding incessantly: Bad managers constantly chide their team members in meetings and undermine others for trivial reason bringing down their self-esteem and confidence.
7. Interrupting others: Bad managers take great pains to constantly interrupt their subordinates in meetings and foist their mediocre views on the team. They also make cryptic pronouncements hoping that someone will figure out what they are meaning to convey and then act on it!
8. Managing upwards: The reason bad managers stay in their role unchallenged is because they have mastered the art of managing upwards. They keep their bosses happy with sweet talk and taking care of their needs at the expense of providing poor leadership to their own team.
9. Internecine rivalry: Bad managers keep the team members engaged by pitting one member with another by giving them identical or very similar assignments and seeing who beats whom.
10. Overworked teams: This is one of the hallmarks of bad managers. They make sure that each member of their team is so overloaded that they do not even have time to catch up. They reason that if their team members are so burdened with work that they will not have time to look around for other jobs.

So, what are your strategies to deal with such a toxic boss and how can you get from under them? Well, here are some strategies that work:

1. No Denial: Many employees do not know how to effectively deal with a bad boss. If you see any of the symptoms listed above you have a bad boss. Do not go into denial over it. Do not ask others if they experience the same behaviors; if you see it, believe it!
2. Create Plan: Make a plan to either move within your own company or start looking outside. If you are looking within your own company check out the reputation of your potential manager by talking to those who have already worked with that manager. If you are going outside, your best bet is to update your LinkedIn Profile and get yourself showcased well in the job market. LinkedIn has the ability to create the “pull” you need from the market, without having to chase open jobs.
3. Perform well: You must keep your career on track by not getting into fight with your bad boss or complaining about them to HR. These strategies simply backfire and create problems in your career later.
4. Seek out assignments: Find assignments that you can do (beyond what your boss orders you to do) so that both you and the boss look good to others. Such assignments will also put a shine on your résumé.
5. Do not complain: A simple rule: Do not complain; do not explain works wonders when you are caught in the grips of a bad boss. Just keep the vision of getting out from under them and do a good job on each assignment.

There is such a plethora of bad bosses in the workplace that it is hard to avoid them. But, using some of the strategies of early detection and following a plan of action for change can prevent you an early coronary and can help you with a happier personal life!

Good luck!