{"id":91,"date":"2018-10-22T13:32:22","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T13:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2018\/10\/22\/12-signs-youre-becoming-the-bad-boss-you-always-dreaded\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T18:55:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T02:55:31","slug":"12-signs-youre-becoming-the-bad-boss-you-always-dreaded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2018\/10\/22\/12-signs-youre-becoming-the-bad-boss-you-always-dreaded\/","title":{"rendered":"12 signs you\u2019re becoming the bad boss you always dreaded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How to know when you\u2019re no longer being a good manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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No one sets out to become a bad boss. Yet, slowly but surely, it\u2019s easy to become the bad manager we all dread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Times are stressful. You\u2019re trying to make things happen. You notice your team isn\u2019t as engaged as they should be. You can feel your patience getting shorter and shorter. You feel stuck and exasperated about leading your team. The more you do, the worse it seems to get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, a sinking feeling hits you: You might be becoming a bad manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had that sinking feeling in my own stomach before, too. Especially in the early days of running Canopy<\/a>, I was plagued with self-doubt. \u201cAm I doing this right?\u201d I wondered. \u201cAm I falling into the trap of doing things that I\u2019ve<\/em> hated in other bosses?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I recognized the early signs of a bad manager\u200a\u2014\u200athe kind of manager I dreaded working for. Now, I\u2019d like to share these signs with you, so you can hopefully avoid these pitfalls and get back on track to being the good manager you want to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #1: You think an employee \u201cshould already know that.\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re a leader, you benefit from having all the information. Yet we forget that the rest of the team does not have that same information. Don\u2019t fall into the trap of assuming that employees \u201cshould already know that.\u201d Instead, consider why your team doesn\u2019t have the information they need and own that shortcoming yourself. Good leaders know it\u2019s on themselves<\/em> to make sure the team knows what they need to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #2: You find yourself saying \u201cNo\u201d more often than \u201cWhy not?\u201d or \u201cCould this work later?\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In times of uncertainty, we as leaders have a bias against creativity<\/a>. A great leader understands this and adjusts for this bias. She knows that good ideas and suggestions take many forms\u200a\u2014\u200aand saying \u201cno\u201d to something right away could be shortchanging your team. Not to mention, it\u2019s demoralizing for your team to always have their ideas constantly turned down. Consider: Are you becoming a bad manager because you\u2019re too closed off to new ideas?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #3: You ask an employee to stay late without staying late yourself.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

True leadership starts with walking the walk. Our actions set an example for our team<\/a>. So if you ask someone to stay late at the office, but you don\u2019t stay late yourself\u200a\u2014\u200athat\u2019s not a small, trivial thing. It\u2019s a statement to your employee that you don\u2019t value them or their time. Reexamine if you\u2019re modeling the behavior yourself that you\u2019d like your employees to exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #4: You feel like you\u2019re irreplaceable and are the only person who can do a certain part of the job.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Feeling like you\u2019re irreplaceable isn\u2019t a badge of honor\u200a\u2014\u200ait can be your greatest downfall as a leader. Why? It\u2019s often the reason we micromanage others or don\u2019t delegate projects. When we accept that others can do parts of our job better than us, we are more willing to share responsibility, delegate tasks, and not breathe down our team\u2019s neck. Wil Reynolds<\/a>, Founder of SEER Interactive, has admitted how he\u2019s fallen victim to this himself<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #5: You think asking certain questions can be dangerous or a giant waste of time.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re worried that asking what an employee thinks about your benefits or compensation package are just huge distractions. While in the short-term this may feel like the case, the reality is that employees have feedback for you already, whether or not you ask about them. So by not asking questions, you\u2019re simply letting a problem fester. If you want to be a good leader, you\u2019ll gather the courage to ask questions and hear answers you may not want to hear. It\u2019s better than not knowing the answer at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #6: You think emotions have no place in the workplace.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Emotions are facts\u200a\u2014\u200athe way we feel about our work affects how well we do our work. So we must accept our team\u2019s emotions, just as we do our financials or design projects. Work is often seen as a logical, rational place, so considering people\u2019s emotions can feel burdensome and complicated. But great leaders embrace that their team will feel a range of emotions, and that\u2019s part of the day-to-day process of working together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #7: You think doing something yourself is easier because you can\u2019t trust anyone else to get it done right.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Your reluctance to hand things off to your team is a telling sign that you\u2019re slipping into becoming a bad manager. A great leader knows that the crux of teamwork is equipping others with the ability to do things right and trusting that they will. As the African proverb goes: \u201cIf you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nLooking for more detailed guidance on one-on-one meetings?<\/strong>\nMake sure to check out our 1:1 module in Canopy.\n<\/div>\n
\nLearn more<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sign #8: You think some people deserve your trust more than others\u200a\u2014\u200aand you act on those hunches.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Few things turn a manager from good to bad as quickly as playing favorites. As unwilling as you might be to even call your actions \u201cplaying favorites,\u201d the fact that you give some people on your team more leeway or grace than others is a recipe for resentment. Fairness is a critical trait of the best leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #9: You feel that you need your team to be close by or in the office in order for people to get work done.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You might find it strangely comforting to see an employee in front of a computer, at the office. That means they\u2019re being productive, right? What a farce that is. Watching people get work done doesn\u2019t mean the work actually gets done. Realize that your desire for proof of the work, instead of caring about the result, is a crutch and an attempt to control others. If anything, your desire to see<\/em> people doing work is a burden to your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #10: You think that if an employee has a problem, issue, question, or concern, they\u2019ll simply come to you with it.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Open door policies in companies simply don\u2019t work. We forget is that there is an inherent power dynamic when we\u2019re the manager. When we\u2019re \u201cthe boss,\u201d<\/a> we\u2019re seen as the ones \u201cin control\u201d and with power. As a result, an employee is concerned with how she\u2019ll come across to you if you\u2019ll treat her differently, or even fire her. There\u2019s no incentive for her to be honest with you if it\u2019s not what you want to hear. So you\u2019ve got to ask what problems, issues, or questions your team might have\u200a\u2014\u200ayou can\u2019t expect them to come to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #11: You \u201ctest\u201d employees to make sure they\u2019re prepared and working hard.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You catch yourself asking questions during meetings just to \u201cmake sure employees are paying attention.\u201d Or, you assign small tasks just to make sure your team \u201cis on their toes.\u201d Stop. Trying to \u201ctest\u201d your employees is counterproductive. You\u2019re draining their morale, not building it up. If you\u2019re ever tempted to try to test your employees\u200a\u2014\u200aresist the urge. Ask yourself, \u201cWhy do I feel the urge to test them? What am I not doing to create an environment where they can perform their best?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign #12: You spend more time thinking about trying to eliminate distractions in the workplace than trying to give people a reason to feel excited about coming to work.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As a manager, it\u2019s tempting to focus on what your team should stop doing. They should stop taking such long lunches, or stop wasting time on Facebook. Rather, the best managers take the opposite approach: They focus on what they can to give<\/em> their team so they feel motivated and engaged. For instance, instead of being preoccupied with how long your team\u2019s coffee breaks are, consider, have you made it clear how their work is connected to the bigger picture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nLooking for more detailed guidance on this topic?<\/strong>\nMake sure to check out our Training Program.\n<\/div>\n
\nLearn more<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

All of us as leaders have fallen victim to one of these 12 signs, at one time or another. The key is to recognize it when it happens. Don\u2019t give yourself excuses for why it did. And don\u2019t beat yourself up about it, either! Simply accept it, decide what you\u2019d like to do differently, and move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a good manager is hard for everyone. I only hope learning these 12 signs can help you, as much as it did me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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