You’ve been reading posts after posts on how to become a great leader and how to motivate the people around you.  Unfortunately bad leaders are more common than the great ones, and it can be very dangerous to work for people who don’t know what they are doing. It’s not only dangerous for your business, but for more selfish reasons, it can be very dangerous for your own career and kill the passion for what you are doing. While I strongly believe that you can learn from both, the good and the bad boss, you shouldn’t try to find excuses to continue working for the bad one.

Office Space

Here are some of the characteristics of a bad boss:

1. The bad boss would use his positional power in a way that’s hypocritical to the expectations set for the employees. He would intentionally show up late for meetings, don’t take employee feedback seriously and simply don’t walk the talk. Do you know the feeling when your boss is asking you to do something he himself wouldn’t commit to?
2. The bad boss would take credit for the work of an employee and try to keep all the spotlight for himself. Nothing is worse than a boss who can’t share credit and is only trying to promote himself. A good boss would focus on making his employees shine and get the credit they deserve.
3. The bad boss would not support his employees when push comes to shove and when it matters most. We don’t mind our boss to push us to do more and more and keep raising expectations, as long as we feel supported when it matters most. While you shouldn’t defend the ones that cannot be defended, the ones that don’t give it their best, a good boss would always support the ones that work had and have the right intentions.
4. The bad boss would lose his temper. It’s not a sign of strength to be losing your temper and yell at your employees. It’s a sign of weakness, and shows that you’re not able to handle stressful matters reasonably.

I always tried to be at my best and put in my efforts no matter if I was working for a good or bad boss, and kept telling myself that I can learn from both. But bottom line is that working for a good boss makes you achieve more, have more fun at what you’re doing, and be a better boss to other in return.

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