Good boss, bad boss

I worked with different bosses in my career, good, bad, professional and unprofessional. Some bosses were very good and exhibited themselves as role models. Some bosses were terrific and I always surprised, why they were bosses? Who made them bosses?

There is a saying, “You can’t choose your father, but you can choose your father- in -law.” Like this, you can’t choose your boss also. Even you can’t also choose your subordinate sometimes. (If they are not doing well as per your expectations, then you have the choice to make their life miserable and find the replacement.)

I learned a lot from professional bosses. They exhibited real qualities of leader and they proved it in their professional lives. I also learned from unprofessional bosses that how the boss should not be. Good or bad, but all contributed a lot in my professional life.

There were bosses who always were speaking about the professionalism, but their behaviour was totally unprofessional. One of my bosses was TISS alumni, expert HR professional, but was very poor in interpersonal skills. He was treating subordinates as slaves. His day started with shouting on the people in office like on street. Not only on juniors but on seniors including his peers. Due to which he had high blood pressure. His kidneys failed. He was seriously ill due to his habits.

Another boss, (I never accepted him as a boss though) was very insecure in the organization. He was working in the organization for 20 years. His attitude was purely head clerk attitude. Typical example of the manager, mentioned by Sharu Rangnekar in his book “In the wonderland of Indian Managers”. He made a mess by putting his people, cheerleaders, on critical positions.

Ultimately organization got the major setback. Management decided to keep him aside and he was to force to take early retirement. I heard that when he was out of the organization, people in the organization celebrated his exit.

Professionalism is always a subjective term. For one person the definition of professionalism is different, however another person can perceive the professionalism differently. Good bosses understand the basics of professionalism. Nobody is perfect in this world. Shouting on subordinate is not unprofessional according to the boss, but if subordinate asks valid reasons, it is not professional for him. Paying dirty politics is not unprofessional for the boss, but if subordinate express his frustration, it is unprofessional according to the boss.

There is learning from good bosses, how we should be and also from bad bosses how we should not be.

Lot of material is available on how the boss should be. Hence I am putting some qualities of bad boss.

Some qualities of bad boss:

1)Skipping the managers and calling managers’ subordinates very frequently creating suspicious environment.
2)Creating the perception among the employees that management has given them unlimited powers. If authority is giving abusing the same.
3)Encouraging the cheerleaders.
4)Keeping the distance from employees and behaving as the king in the organization.
5)Expecting from the employees to call him frequently and communicate everything.
6)Encouraging backbiting.
7)Creating the fear among the employees about top management and not allowing the employees to have the access to them.
8)Creating the image that “I am the only person in the organization who can make your life easy.”
9)Creating rigid policies, rules and regulations so that there is very less scope for the creativity.
10)Encouraging bureaucracy.
11)Making favours. Deviating policies for specific people. Discriminating. Using the word case to case, (actually means face to face).
12)Less focus on talent and recruiting average people so that they can not challenge him in future.
13)Creating the policies in such a way that he gets all the benefits from company. Stay in five star hotel, using company car and driver, flying by business class and asking employees to follow cost cutting measures.
14)Using the word “I” and never giving the due credit to other people.
15)If somebody goes with good idea, then saying, “you should first study the history of organization; your idea can not work here.”
16)Spoiling the career of employees, sometimes forcing the exit of good talent by playing dirty tricks.
17)Focusing more on papers and not on results.
18)And many more. Please add your list how the boss should not be…..

Sometimes later, we will discuss about good bosses because I have enough to tell about them.