Bad bosses in the movies are super entertaining. Think of the cold stare of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, the oversized ego and even larger insensitivity of Michael Gary Scott in The Office. Or, consider this line given to Homer Simpson about expected duties for his evil, greedy boss, which include, “answering Mr. Burns phone, preparing his tax return, moistening his eyeballs, assisting with his chewing and swallowing, lying to Congress, and some light typing.”
Hilarious, or cringe-worthy, or righteously infuriating on film or TV, bad bosses In real life create real misery for employees. Toxic bosses create toxic cultures. They chip away at employees’ self-esteem, sense of agency and connection to their jobs. Unfortunately, toxic bosses are not just a creation of Hollywood. As this briefing from McKinsey & Company found, 56% percent of American workers say their boss is “mildly or highly toxic.” A full 75% say their boss “is the most stressful part of their day.”
Leaders matter. A 2023 survey by the UKG, the human capital management firm, asked 3,400 people in 10 countries about their mental health at work. Nearly 70% said their boss impacts their emotional well-being as much as their spouse,
As a leader, you would never act like Mr. Burns. At least, not knowingly. But even well-meaning leaders can make bad boss moves that sap employees’ enthusiasm and dedication. If any of this sound familiar,you may have veered into bad boss territory:
- Your direct reports seem to turn over quickly
- Attrition is an issue on your team
- People engaged in animated conversation stop talking when you pass in the hallway.
There’s good news in all this: it’s never too late to improve your leadership skills. As another article from McKinsey & Company puts it, “Leadership is something you do, not something you are. . . What’s more, leadership is not something people are born with—it is a skill you can learn.”
Here are three key ways bosses create toxic culture, and leadership habits to learn to build better teams and inspire your workforce.
1.Bad Boss Move — Sap Employees’ Agency
People want to feel that the work they do contributes, that they have agency over it, and that they matter to the team, the company, and increasingly, the world. Bad bosses sap agency by micromanaging, which is the opposite of granting and supporting autonomy. Micromanaging can, “hinder employee development, undermine morale, and stifle creativity,” as this post by Baylor University’s human resources department explains. If your employees are waiting for you to make every decision, and doing just the minimum, that lack of initiative may be due to your trampling on their autonomy.
Good Boss Fix — Support Successful Autonomy
One way that good bosses support employees’ sense of agency and value at work is by making sure skills and tasks align, and that they have enough leeway to do them. As a survey by Vantage Leadership Consulting found, employees point to a set of five interlocking traits when thinking about their best bosses, and these include granting appropriate autonomy. The firm sums up this trait in this way: “The Best Boss imparts knowledge, business acumen, big picture thinking and establishes an autonomous space for the individual to perform.”
As the leadership consulting firm’s respondents note, part of supporting autonomy is helping employees develop enough to take on bigger tasks. Good bosses adopt a growth-for-others mindset, an active ambition to support employees’ growth. Good bosses do this by providing opportunities for employees to lead or flex a new skill, and connections to help them gain new knowledge and experiences.
2.Bad Boss Move — Create Chaos and Emergencies
Bad bosses create a toxic work environment by giving last-minute deadlines that force employees to cancel personal plans, miss out on sleep, or put aside other work, in order to meet them. This behavior may be due to their own disorganization, rather than ill intent, but constantly throwing high-priority work on employees, and acting as if every issue is a “10” in terms of importance, creates a whirl of disorder and anxiety, and makes employees feel that they can’t control their own work or lives.
Good Boss Fix — Help Employees Set Inspiring, Achievable Goals
Good bosses plan ahead and help employees do so, too. They set clear goals and expectations — and support the team in their efforts to meet them. A good boss balances big, meaningful ambitions — which create enthusiasm and excitement — against smaller subgoals, which are achievable in the short-term. Good bosses do this in part by breaking down lofty, long-term goals into manageable tasks. “Having long-term goals and doggedly working toward them day after day is a hallmark of a boss with grit . . . reframing what you and your people do as a series of manageable steps leads to better decisions, sustains motivation and helps people experience less distress,” as Robert I. Sutton wrote in his 2012 title Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best . . . and Learn from the Worst.
3.Bad Boss Move — Play the Blame and Shame Game
Bad bosses make people feel bad about themselves. They do this directly, through criticism and blame — sometimes in public — and indirectly, by failing to highlight and support strengths or offer constructive ways for employees to grow. Bad bosses also take personal credit for employees’ good work, denying them broader recognition for their contributions. Bad Bosses make performance reviews feel like a disciplinary action; the review becomes another critique.
Good Boss Fix — Give Praise and Constructive Feedback:
Good bosses look for what went right first, and provide support for employees to do more of that. They also praise publicly (at least sometimes), offering developmental suggestions in private. They structure feedback about what to do differently as clear action steps, allowing employees to make progress. A good boss has the teams’ back or, as Sutton put it in Good Boss, Bad Boss, “A hallmark of effective bosses everywhere is that they doggedly protect their people.”
If you adopt these good boss fixes, you’ll lead happier, more productive teams. Rather than being a real life Mr. Burns, you can bring the inspirational leadership of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to the office, or of Captain James Kirk, leading your team through ordinary days and wildly uncharted territory. Even toxic bosses can evolve into a Hollywood ending of strong, positive leadership — like Gru, the former villain of the Despicable Me movie franchise — and become a force for good work.