Scary Bosses

Halloween is almost upon us and it’s time to think about scary frightful things. How about a scary terrifying boss? Have you ever had one or more importantly, are you one? Let’s think about what a scary boss can do. First, they are probably a bit of a dictator and using their authority rather than their leadership skills to lead, and motivate their employees. Leading by fear doesn’t work in the long term. Yes, it might get results in the short term, but when an employee has a boss that continuously leads by fear, eventually the person will hide from when the boss comes into the room. People stand behind closed doors to complain and “discuss” their boss. Thus, productivity goes down as well as employee morale. The scary intimidating boss diminishes the effect of his staff.
If you are that scary daunting boss, then it is time to look at your behaviors and set some goals to change them. It won’t happen overnight, but an awareness of your need to improve will help you to change your ineffective behaviors. When you forget and behave poorly, don’t beat yourself up; just think about how you can do better the next time. If you have someone on your team who falls into the category of diminishing his or her team or coworkers, then help that person identify the behaviors and develop specific goals to change them. If that person has trouble acknowledging their inappropriate behavior, it might be time to bring in a coach to help. If you are that scary person and you are having difficulties changing your behavior, you might need to do the same.