18 Nov TSLH #046: 4 Types of Bad Leadership Behaviors
Posted at 06:00h
in Newsletter
Read time: 4 minutes
Let’s face it, most people will have had (at least) one bad manager in their career. That manager never created the conditions for the team to thrive, and this may have resulted in high attrition, lack of engagement, absence of communication and accountability, among other things.
It is also fair to say that any leader, at one point or another in their career, will make mistakes – Hey! This is part of the learning! – and may be flagged a bad manager by people. Some leaders will improve, correct their behaviors and end up having a high performing team. Other leaders may continue down the spiral until they fail.
The good news is, there are specific behaviors that we can identify and that will mark anyone as a bad leader. Again, they’re bad insofar as the leader lives by them consistantly. My experience tells me that pretty much everyone will show one or more of these behaviors at some point and it is a question of being aware of these bad behaviors and working to eliminate them.
I am gonna give you the 4 behaviors I have met the most in my career and that in my opinion drive bad leadership. For each of them, I will give you a few tips of what you can to avoid or eliminate them from your leadership toolbox.
The thieving magpie. That kind of leader will fly over the team, stealing the work and ideas of others, and then fly away, pretending that work is theirs. They will take full credit for a job well done and blame others when mistakes happen. They will also reuse the work of others to their benefit without giving proper credit and recognition.
A few tips to work with a thieving magpie:
- If you see your work used without proper credit – especially if your manager emailed people about it – reply to that email, thanking your manager for using your work to demonstrate his point. Turn a bad event into something good for you.
- Use your 1-1’s with your manager to address the topic and let them know that it’s OK to use your work but that you would appreciate proper credits.
How you can avoid being a thieving magpie:
- Always show appreciation for the work of others. If you send someone’s work (a table, analysis, etc.) to other people, make sure you thank or credit the right person for the work done.
- Adopt this approach with your team: In case of success, give credits, let everyone know who has done a great job. In case of mistakes, protect your team and don’t let anyone blame people on your team. Show your leader face instead and be part of the solution.
The power retainer. These leaders are often afraid of being inadequate and their thinking goes “If I have information that others don’t, I retain my power, legitimacy, and leadership title.” Typically, these leaders will not forward information they get – although it would be very relevant to the team or your work – or they will keep you in the dark, not admitting that they don’t know.
A few tips to work with a power retainer:
- Develop your own internal network of people who can give you information in the organization. You may be able to catch information that is important and that is not passed by your leader.
- Ask questions openly to the leader, about what information you need, so that it is clear for everyone that the information is expected – which makes it more difficult to retain.
How you can avoid being a power retainer:
- Share any information that you get and that is not sensitive – i.e., there is no restriction in the organization to share the information with others.
- Be as transparent as possible with any information you get and share (or not share). Explain why you cannot share an information, and when you share an information, set expectations with your team about what you know and what you don’t know.
The micromanager. This is most likely the type of bad manager that most of us have met in our work environment. This leader wants to check everything, from what color you used for the lines of your Excel table, to your formulas. Worse still, some leaders will scrutinize how you do your work, telling you to do it the way they would have done it.
A few tips to work with a micromanager:
- Be direct with your leader when you see them micromanaging. For instance, ask “What can I do better?” and see what they say. You may learn something critical about their needs, that once fulfilled will eliminate the need for the leader to micromanage.
- Have a discussion with your manager to let them know how being micromanaged impacts you and your work. Discuss about how to make working together a win-win situation.
How you can avoid being a micromanager:
- As much as you may like, refrain from focusing on the process to get the job done (unless you were called in to fix processes obviously!) and instead focus on the outcomes the team delivers. If the outcomes meet your expectations, there’s no need to micromanage. If the outcomes are not satisfactory, don’t go to micromanaging, rather, coach the team and discuss with them about what to change. Let them take charge.
- Ask your team regularly about bad behaviors that they see in you and that you need to change. Ask for help when you see yourself wanting to micromanage.
The superhero. These leaders thrive when they can rescue the team or the organization. They might let things deteriorate only to come save the day at the last minute. They want to tackle and solve all problems alone, without letting the team participate. Their misunderstanding is that by doing so, they’re not protecting the team, they’re disengaging it.
A few tips to work with a superhero:
- Offer to help and be proactive on solving issues before the superhero comes at the rescue.
- Whatever the leader does, make sure you learn from them so that there are fewer opportunities for them in the future to act as superhero. For instance if the leader acts as a superhero, saving the day for the team, because he know someone at the company’s headquarters who can solve the issue at stake, make sure you connect to that person. You can ask for an introduction to your manager, thanking them for helping you to expand your network. And next time, you can then reach out to that person if a similar problem happens.
How you can avoid being a superhero:
- Lead with the mindset that it is OK to be a leader and to not know everything, to not have a solution to every problem. Stay humble, ask for help when you need it. If you know people who can help solve an issue, delegate contacting them to someone on the team. The team will feel empowered to help address the challenge.
- Don’t create issues where there are none. If things are going well, don’t try to change them. Check with your team regularly on what their painpoints are and focus on these. Solve them together with the team.
Remember, it is tough to be a strong leader with no flaws. In fact, I would argue it is impossible. However, you don’t need to let bad behaviors harm your leadership. Instead, use your self-awareness to correct your behaviors when you see that they will derail your leadership and your team performance. Once you can do that, making a mistake here and there will matter much less, because the team will know that you can self-correct. And they might also let you know when it’s time to change a behavior.
I wish you a great read. I’ll see you next Saturday!
TL; DR (Too Long, Did not Read)
4 types of bad leadership behaviors
- The thieving magpie.
- The power retainer.
- The micromanager.
- The superhero.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
1️⃣ Work 1-1 with me to step up as the authentic leader you aspire to be.
2️⃣ Hire me to help you build a high-performing team.
3️⃣ Start with my affordable digital courses on Mastering Difficult Conversations for Leaders and Goal Setting