Let me start off by saying that this list of “Bad Boss” attributes is somewhat personal, to say the least. Yes I’ve had bad bosses in the past and yes I could make a list of attributes based on my experiences with them. But this list isn’t about them. Shamefully I admit, this list is about me.
I’m talking about who I was when I started off in management. Notice I didn’t say leadership, I said management. I wasn’t leading at all but I referred to myself as “leadership”. Quite frankly, if I knew me back then I’d tell me that I didn’t have a damn clue what leadership was.

A Little Tangent: It really gets my goat how frivolously the term “Leadership” is used. It’s not a self-ordained title that you can use to describe yourself just because of the position you’re in. True leadership in the VERB sense can only be granted to you by others. I digress.

I compiled the bad boss attributes below after taking a journey back in time and watching myself in my first position as a manager. It’s almost painful to focus my attention on these very real memories but I’m hoping you can learn from them. If you find yourself in your first “Boss” job, ask yourself, “Do I do any of these things?”
If you’ve got a bad boss and he or she does any of these things I hope it helps you to understand why they’re acting the way they are. If they’re a new boss, maybe give them a little slack. There’s a good chance that one day they’ll look back on how they are today and be ashamed. I guess that is unless they turn out to be one of the bottom feeders that make a career of giving bosses a bad name.  If that’s the case then share your story with me and it might be featured in the “Bad Boss Survival Guide Podcast!”
So this is just a short list that I can remember displaying early in my career as the Boss.

* I thought I was supposed to have all the answers.
* I spoke more than I listened.  Sigh……I didn’t listen at all.
* My guard was always up and I never admitting to not knowing the answer to something.
* I didn’t communicate well but blamed my employees when they didn’t understand the message.
* I spent most of my time in my office with the door closed.  
* I thought that bringing in cookies or donuts would help morale and convince staff to feel good about their jobs.  
* I blamed staff when things went wrong but took credit when things went right.  
* I gave myself a pat on the back if staff were intimidated by me.  
* I didn’t take the time to know the people who worked for me.

It’s painful to admit that this used to be me but I’m going to take each of these attributes and delve into them with you in future posts and podcasts.
To the Best Version of You.
-Michael Francis