Beware the Bossy Traits!

On the other hand many bosses are true leaders and they wear their titles lightlyThese individuals exhibit the five key traits of leadershipCompetencyCapability They know and excel at their craft which they hone sculpt and keep relevant in changing circumstancesIntegrity They face reality Are transparent Face facts and align with reality They engender trust They are accountableEmpathyamp160They care and are concerned about othersVulnerability They accept mistakes and are aware that they may not know all the answers They surround themselves with people who have complimentary skills and are not afraid of being challengedInspiration They recognize that people choose with their hearts but use numbers to justify what they just did That in dark times one needs to inspire and engender hopeBut even the most admired leaders sometimes are hard to deal with from time to time because decision making is difficult and stressful especially when there is significant financial risk competitive threat and tight deadlinesAs a result they exhibit the traits of bad bossesSometimes all of us do because we are humanBut most of us rarely fall into deplorable boss mode for more than a day or two and usually apologize and correct our behaviorOthers tend to continuously vibrate and hum with odious bossy traitsIt is important to recognize the bossy traits of bad bosses so that if we work with one of these bosses or when under pressureamp160we begin to exhibit these traits ourselves we can recognize and address such behaviorThere are five bossy traits Bad bosses have a doctorate in one of these and a master39s degree in a couple of others They are 1 narcissism 2 micromanagement 3 drama 4 scheming and 5 backstabbing1 The Narcissistic God These bosses believe that only they know the answer only they are capable of handling the major meeting and only they should get the credit for their teams39 success They often believe they transcend the company In many instances they create a godlike cult that worships their every move using public relations and social media to spread the wordTheir people worship them by following their commandments Direct reports lose their own individuality when they39re working for Narcissistic Gods they also lose their ability to draw upon their own experiences and skills to solve problems or capitalize on opportunities Their story gets lost and they become mindless followers2 The Micromanaging Fiddler These folks are terrific operators they know how to get things done but as managers they retain their obsessive detail orientation They tell their people what to do and insist they check in with them at every stage They are insecure and can39t let go of anything They often manage via spreadsheets or the need for the slavish following of systematic procedures Micromanaging Fiddlers fail to understand the outside world since they are constrained by the cell of the spreadsheet or slaves to historical procedures3 The Oscar Aspirant These types emote loudly and dramatically Erratic and unpredictable they are a roller coaster of emotions They greet bad news with histrionics and good news with hyperbole These drama kings and queens are tolerated by management because they can be effective in certain roles they can present well and even inspire others with their visions and speechesAt the same time they make their people crazy People are expected to praise the boss39s performance or to raise their spirits More to the point these managers only want one story told and it39s theirs As a result direct reports aren39t allowed to bring their own ideas experiencesamp160and views to the groupThe story of the boss overwhelms everything and everyone else4 The Scheming Sphinx This is the person who smiles blows airkisses and oozes charisma and friendship and says nor shares anything substantialamp160while sucking up as much information as possible and probing for vulnerabilitiesA blend of insecurity and bully juice wrapped in a blanket of charm while oozing calm and friendlinessOften has more style than substance More network than intellect Retains power through potential threat and ability to harm versus innate talent or true goodwill5 The DoubleCrossing Assassin While the previous four types are expressive or antiexpressive in the case of the Scheming Sphinx in their terribleness Assassins are softspoken wellbehavedamp160and selfcontrolledBehind closed doors however they take credit for other people39s work create animosity by speaking ill of people to others and find ways to trip up others and make them fail They are like Reese Witherspoon in the movie Electionamp160 smiling and ruthless They win people39s trust and then undermine themPeople working for assassins become guarded and monitor everything they say and do for fear that it will be used against them They carry out tasks with little creativity and take little risk knowing that even a minor slip up will give the Assassin an opportunity to target them They fear for their work lives keeping a low profile and cleaving to their tasks is the only way they can escape the Assassin39s bulletsAll five bad boss types know that if they deliver their numbers and meet their objectives they can continue to exist in most organizations This is especially true if these organizations have spreadsheetdominant cultures where measurement is constant and meeting quarterly numbers is the highest priorityBad bosses are the enemies of balance they provoke extreme reactions from their people If the employees don39t leave the company they work in fear or expend all their energy on managing their managers No doubt you39ve witnessed employees go into survival mode to deal with a bad boss They become obsequious roboticamp160and myopically focused on their boss39s every action and reaction As a result they may be able to carry out assigned tasks effectively and help their bosses meet their numbers and objectives but they are loath to take risks or deviate from normsAt a time when innovation is crucial they fall short because innovation requires behaviors that bad bosses hate The balance is tipped heavily in favor of playing it safeBad bosses unbalance companies in another way they force people to face inward instead of outward They spend time focusing on what their bosses have done or how to manage their idiosyncrasies instead listening to the marketplace and customersThe good news is that as we enter the era of the Unbundled Workplace folks with these bossy traits will find themselves increasingly impotent in their ability to command and control There is no big office to telegraph power or a campuslike facility in which to create cultish followers No assistants to block access and an increasing dilution in the power of a rolodex when true talent connect with true opportunity in real timeOur real bosses are the people we wish to develop relationships with and sell to not someone in our organization or even our clients39 organizations The best thing we can do for our internal bosses is to make sure our external bosses do not fire us Which is why looking outside and seeing tomorrow versus looking inside and being nostalgic for yesterday helps provide balanceBad bosses keep us staring at our shoes Good bosses encourage us to lift our heads and look aroundPhoto at top courtesy ofamp160Rishad Tobaccowalaamp160Click the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Beware the Bossy Traits!

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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Beware the Bossy Traits!

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