📅 Thought for today:
‘Having a bad boss isn’t your fault. Staying with one is.’
— Nora Denzel
#thoughtfortoday #bad #boss #management #customers #employees #wellbeing
Three conversations this week had been interestingly connected.
One was with a client, one with another coach, and one with a friend.
The threads connected on one simple point – the impact bad managers have on other people, the business they work for, and the wider ecosystem (the stakeholders) around that business.
The attitude of a bad manager towards other employees is a good first indicator. It treats them as a business asset that needs to perform to the maximum at all times, be loyal, and put the business before their personal needs and goals.
Then the attitude of the bad manager towards customers is that they are nothing more than a source of revenue, and that profit must be maximised. Customer service is annoying and all costs must be cut in the interests of profit.
And finally, the bad manager seeks no help or change in themselves. They consider themselves to be doing a good job and managing well. No need for any outside “interference”.
However, a bad manager is enabled – whether by their own manager, their board of directors, their shareholders, or their employees. Each has a role to play in change – in their own interests and the company’s.
Customers grumble and complain, but it takes a lot to switch (and in the case of Ticketmaster this is not an option if you want to go to a gig but they haven’t given you the tickets you paid for).
Employees need the income, walking away is not considered an option.
Top management and boards turn a blind eye. Good enough is good enough.
The wasted potential to make a positive impact on people’s lives is ignored.
Don’t work for bad managers, don’t become a bad manager, don’t enable bad managers. We could all be living happier lives. Employee wellbeing is not about wellbeing programs – it is about the quality of the management.
