Horrible Bosses: 12 Signs They’re in Your Midst

As far as bosses go, the majority aren’t stellar.

In fact, a Stagwell study found that 71% of the employees surveyed have had a toxic boss at some point in their careers.

We know your workplace isn’t full of horrible bosses. But there might be some lurking around. And there’s a chance every leader has committed a horrible boss sin one time or another. Or they might have a few bad management traits that could be improved.

Horrible Boss Traits

For example, maybe there’s a boss who sometimes shares offensive, selfish and distracting traits with Michael Scott (of The Office). Or is there a boss who can be greedy and dishonest like Mr. Burns (of The Simpsons)? Or maybe there’s a boss who can be overly demanding and heartless like Miranda Priestly (of The Devil Wears Prada).

While none of the leaders in your workplace are as horrible as the fictional bosses, they might be causing some unnecessary waves in the workplace.

Here are 12 traits that make a horrible boss. You’ll want to watch for these in action — and steer them toward some training to improve softer skills:

1. Blames Failures On Everyone Else

Good bosses admit their mistakes and learn from them. Bad bosses blame their teams for failures and take no responsibility for them.

On the flipside, these people often take credit for their teams’ successes.

2. Never Apologizes

There are those managers who refuse to apologize for anything because they believe it’s a sign of weakness and causes staff to question their authority.

In reality, the opposite is true.

Apologizing for an error helps build respect and trust within the staff. When employees see their boss apologize for an error, it reinforces that they work in an environment of trust and honesty.

3. Doesn’t Pull Own Weight

We heard about a boss who would get his staff to do all his work by telling them he was working on a “special project.” Staff figured out that he lied like a rug. He was busy listening to his favorite political talk show every afternoon and scheduling gigs for his band.

Needless to say, no one was the least bit sad when he was fired!

Bosses should be role models for their employees and work just as hard as their staff.

4. Is Clueless About Employees’ Jobs

How can you manage people if you don’t know exactly what they do? Horrible bosses don’t tend to know the answer to this. They rule from an ivory tower.

Good managers take an interest in their employees and their jobs, and are there to pitch in when there’s an emergency.

5. Causes Drama

Bad bosses love office drama! If a boss causes the drama, he’s one of those really horrible bosses.

No office is drama-free. But good managers step in and handle drama when it’s disturbing the team. They’re never the cause of it.

6. Doesn’t Respect Personal Boundaries

Managers who work around the clock and expect their employees to be at their beck and call even when they’re not on the clock are typically disliked … a lot! Whether it’s late-night emails or expectations for longer than normal hours, bad bosses demand too much outside the lines of work.

Good managers respect their employees’ personal time and realize they have a life outside the office.

7. Makes Employees Miserable

Some people revel in the misery of others, and these people make horrible bosses.

Leaders should want to see their employees happy, because happy workers are productive workers. Miserable employees focus on their misery and how much they despise their boss, which takes their attention away from work.

8. Allows Workers to Flounder

Bad bosses know the goals and vision of the company, but don’t relay them to their team. They provide no guidance, and just assume their team will eventually figure it out on their own.

Why do they do that?

Sometimes, it’s because they don’t feel like taking the time to explain something. Other times, it gives them an excuse to blame their team when things go wrong.

No matter the reason, it’s counterproductive.

9. Never Says, ‘Thank You’

Employees who respect their managers don’t mind going the extra mile for them.

Sometimes a simple thank you is all that’s needed to get that done. However, just like there are managers who won’t apologize, there are also those who never say a simple, “Thank you.”

Not recognizing employees for things they do to help out by recognizing others puts any boss on the bad-boss list.

Saying those two little words takes very little effort, but pays off when it comes to respect and likeability.

10. Breeds Constant Turnover

A sure sign of a bad boss – constant turnover.

I bet you’ve heard the saying, “People don’t leave companies; they leave managers.” That’s very true.

Bad managers have the HR or recruiters on speed dial, because people don’t like to work for them.

11. Has an Underperforming Team

Guess what? When teams aren’t doing well, it’s typically not their fault.

Why? Because bad managers and their poor management skills rub off on their team. Employees need goals and direction, and if they aren’t getting it from the appropriate source, they’re not going to do well.

12. Stands Alone

Know any bad managers? How many allies do they have at the company?

Very often people who stink at management find themselves alone because other “good” managers don’t want to be associated with them. Their own staff even starts to ignore them because they lose respect for them.

Being a “good” boss isn’t easy. It takes many different skills, and there’s always something that can be improved. But if leaders treat employees fairly, consistently and with respect, they’ll probably be just fine.