I recently invited my LinkedIn connections to share their experiences of bad managers. My invitation arose following a conversation with one of my connections who had shared a criticism about their line manager.
Well you didn’t disappoint. I very quickly received a litany of complaints about bad managers you’d had the misfortune to experience. My request clearly provided a much-needed opportunity to vent. Memories are long, staff hurt, bruised and battered from their experiences and resentments still harboured. Bad managers damage staff.
Caveat:
I share the following examples fully aware that no managers are perfect. In my view, all managers should imagine they are wearing invisible ‘L’ plates throughout their career. The job of learning how to manage well is a gift that keeps on giving- if you are willing to learn from feedback and from your mistakes.
Here are just some of the unedifying highlights. Names have been removed to protect the identity of complainants. The examples span a range of sectors.
Some of you shared tips too on how to manage and lead effectively. I’ll save those up for a future post. I’ll put a call-out for examples of good managers as an antidote to the ones provided here and in my next post.
The narcissist
Inability to express empathy
‘A colleague was recently diagnosed with cancer and the manager responsible for said person has not checked in with them in 3 weeks. They have not followed proper procedure and have not taken any actions to ensure there is a smooth transition of duties, nor have they contacted Occupational Health for any information regarding support for my colleague. They have always been a very hands-off manager, apparently that’s “their style”, but this even upsets me. I know some people shy away from long-term illness, but we are humans and it’s someone’s health. At least an “are you okay?”‘
Poor listening skills
‘Managers who think they marvel at multi-tasking: answering emails or calls during meetings, indicating you don’t have their full attention. Remedy: shut down your laptop, put your phone on Do not disturb mode, and give that person or people your full attention during the meeting time. Impression you give: Disinterest or not a priority, inauthentic responses (if a generic acknowledgement is given to a presentation or conversation).’
Poor prioritisation
‘Scheduling one-to-one meetings with team members, and then cancelling last minute because “an important meeting came up”. Remedy: Apologise profusely, reschedule the other meeting, or offer alternative meeting proposals immediately to reschedule. Impression you give: Making your team members feel less important, forgotten or not worthy (if they don’t reschedule) and remember they psyched themselves up to prepare for that meeting to get your input or showcase their work. Respect that.’
Not valuing contributions
‘I am working freelance and whenever a client in this setting doesn’t attend, the hiring person is mentioning and keeping a running total of how much I’m costing for that time, when there is not much I can do about attendance. This also makes me feel like they are moaning about my fee! Maybe I’m being sensitive. But it makes me not want to go back there. I get budgets are tight but it’s not making me feel valued!’
Gaslighting
‘I once joined an organisation where my manager (who was a lovely person) got me to do a psychometric profile. It showed what some of my key strengths were (and possibly weaknesses as well).
In one of our first one-to-ones the manager looked at my profile and said, ‘You’re going to really struggle to fit in here’. They then proceeded to compare my profile with that of a colleague, and insinuated that they had really wanted to hire another person like my colleague. Suffice to say, I did struggle to thrive under this manager.
Fast forward a few months (and a performance improvement plan or two later), and this manager left the organisation – as did the colleague they had compared me with. We were told by senior management that ‘it was their own choice’. I am not so sure.
Things got better for me, and I carved out a little niche for myself supporting junior colleagues. It actually led – indirectly – to my finding a role that I am so passionate about now.
So, I am grateful to that manager for giving me that opportunity. It might not have been the right one for me, but it led to where I am now.’
‘Undermining decisions made behind the person’s back.’
Psychopathic behaviour
‘I’m pretty sure the CEO (my direct line manager) was an actual psychopath! We had mediators come in and actually leave because ‘we can’t deal with that’! In the end three quarters of the management team including me left. They were allowed to run the place for 15 years or so before the new board finally kicked them out.’
Poor time management and inconsideration
‘Waking up to an email sent in the early hours asking for critical input to a presentation only I could provide they were giving that day at 9:30am. They had been sitting on the request that should have met with earlier discussion and contribution for 2 weeks. I am a single parent and was working full-time with two very young children at the time. I only saw the email come in because I was up with a very poorly child and hadn’t slept. This senior manager really struggled to manage time and deliver to deadlines, frequently being distracted by shiny things and events- like decorating the office for Christmas! Madness.’
Lack of leadership and professionalism
‘Attending a 2 day/3 night conference with my manager where we were required to feedback on all conference sessions to senior management on our return (to justify spend on our attendance). My manager appeared to find the bar of an evening more appealing and literally disappeared every night. Showing up late, if at all to the day time sessions. The kicker was them asking for my conference notes (which ran to +10 pages) so they could share back with the leadership team.’
Plagiarism
‘Using my slides/content in presentations and passing it off as their own!‘
Micromanagement
‘I spent the worst six months of my career being micromanaged by someone who knew nothing, either about my field of expertise or, significantly, their own limitations. Nevertheless, it served an important lesson…never again!’
‘Micromanaging so creativity is stifled.’
Cowardice and dishonesty
‘During a restructure, having promised that my team would not have to apply for their existing jobs as they weren’t part of the re-org, my manager caved into pressure and left me to tell 40 people that their roles were at risk. You can imagine what that did to morale. And how I felt having to communicate the u-turn whilst being told to ‘tow the line’.’
Insecurity
‘Feeling threatened by your staff so diminishing their contribution or taking them off projects they are excelling at and giving them the ones nobody wants.’
Favouritism
‘Setting up an a and b team, a preferred inner circle and marginalised outer circle.’
Unprofessional behaviour
‘Having an affair with a team member who then gets promoted.’
Not taking responsibility
‘Very early on in my career an error went through on a printed sample which should have been checked and approved by my manager before sign off. He threw me under the bus instead.’
Lack of trust
Being promised reward/promotion if you do this or that, and then seeing the goal posts move, and realising you’ve been played. Trust is the greatest asset for leadership. It is derived from transparency, honesty and courage. Many have the title, very few could be considered worthy.’
‘I have great memories of my time when we were made as managers to take a flogging to our team when our system was so poor it was just flagging up the wrong results and in all actuality the team was performing just fine. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed after we all threatened to walk out but this was a multi-occurrence thing. Refusing to believe your team over the system was a great way to poison the well I have to say.’
Next time- more examples of bad managers before I explore what good management looks like.
Rotten bosses don’t get better. Any strategy that assumes they can is doomed.” — Scott Adams
Share your stories
I’ll continue to compile more horror stories, so do message me with yours if you have them.
Feel free to share the posts with those who may benefit….
