Gibsonia Gazette

SCARY MANAGERS October 21, 2011

Since this is the month of Halloween I thought it would be interesting to write about scary managers. I once knew a manager who would shout at his employees just to “keep them on their toes”. I am told he actually brought an underling into his office and “dressed him down” in front of another manager “just for kicks”. I don’t know what you think of that behavior in a manager, but I find it frightening.

Here are some signs that you may have a scary manager on your staff:
Behaves like a Marine Drill Sargent
Thinks they have all the answers
Thinks nobody else is capable of doing their job
Never hires “A” players and rarely hire “Bs”
Doesn’t believe in open communications; are often heard to say, “only tell them what they need to hear to get the job done”
Knows nothing about their employees personal lives
Never asks for input from their employees
When someone leaves, they are the first to “badmouth” that person to the other employees
Loves power
Enjoys terminating people
Have a “not my job” attitude
Alway looks for the negatives in people
Keeps changing positions based on what he / she thinks “the bosses” want
Always use “I” never uses “we”
Treats the “suck ups” best
Thinks that employees exist only to make “the boss” look good

The above list is by no means conclusive and someone doesn’t have to have all of the above attributes to qualify as a scary manager. Scary managers probably don’t show some of these characteristics when the boss is around. And they may not seem scary to you if you’re the boss. In fact, they may be intimidated by their superiors.

If, as “the boss”, you spend some time talking to your employees one-to-one, you’ll begin to learn more about them, but also you’ll learn more about your managers. Another way to learn more about what you should know is to use one of the many assessments that are readily available such as Predictive Index or DISC. In fact, it makes sense to assess employees before you hire them, especially management hires.

So at this “chilling” season, take a look around you. Are there frightening creatures working for your company and are they capable of removing their “mask” and transforming into the kind of manager you want on your staff? Or is the mask a permanent part of their “anatomy”. If so, weed them out sooner rather than later, Halloween is for kids, not managers.