Abandon Ship! Five Signs the Captain is No Good.

By Stephanie Cox

Everyone wants to like their boss. Work is such a big part of our lives that a bad boss can turn even the best job into an unnecessary challenge. And as the saying goes – ‘people don’t leave organizations, they leave their managers.’ RC Search Group places great candidates at organizations with employee-focused leadership who want their employees to succeed. 

We’ve gathered these five red flags that might mean you have a problematic boss (or you are one!).

1. Self-Absorption
   • The best leaders put their team first. If they don’t put the people under them first on the small stuff, they won’t on the big stuff either. 
2. Helicopter Syndrome
   • When a manager can’t properly delegate a task to their employee, it communicates a sense of distrust. Constantly hovering like a helicopter on every aspect of a project can suffocate creativity.
3. High-In-The-Sky-Apple-Pie Goals
   • Nothing deflates a team faster than goals that are so high they are unrealistic. A good manager uses goals to raise their employees to new heights, not off of a cliff.
4. Lacking Manners
   • Remember – if your manager is talking negatively about another employee to you, they are talking negatively about you to another employee. Try to tactfully change the subject.
5. Minor League Thinking
   • Many companies promote employees to a management role without first investing in proper training first. These ‘toxic newbies’ have to learn the requisite people skills on the job, which puts stress on the employees under them. Use phrases like “help me understand.”

Schwantes, Marcel. “How Can You Tell You Work for a Toxic Boss? They’re Known for These 5 Things.” Inc.com, Inc., 3 Sept. 2020, www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/toxic-boss-signs.html.