What are the characteristics of a toxic boss?A toxic boss is one who misuses the power conferred on him by his position, all occupational psychology studies indicate that a good relationship between the members of a company results in greater productivity and progress, despite this, there are still many managers who behave well. or use methods that are totally harmful to your employees.
There is a certain feudal heritage in such “leaders”. They have an autocratic sense of power, so they are not afraid to cause discomfort with their behavior. They understand the company or organization as a machine that must function properly and in which its subordinates are only parts of a gear. Toxic patterns are more results-oriented than process-oriented.
“The worker needs more respect than bread. ” Karl Marx
Positive leadership has been shown to be more effective, in the long term democratic and horizontal regimes generate greater respect for workers, a true leader exercises above all his moral authority. It does not depend on coercions or sanctions for employees to commit to the objectives of the company, but motivates and rewards to generate a greater sense of belonging and commitment.
A toxic boss, in turn, focuses on fear, is the tool he uses to get employees to pursue institutional goals, although this system can work in the short, medium and long term, it only generates stagnant business and frustrated employees. who are waiting for the right time to leave the company. This boss is a figure harmful to the organization, and just so you can identify him, below we list some of the characteristics of a toxic boss.
A toxic boss thinks bragging about a position of power does better than others. No matter how you came to occupy this place, you always feel superior to being part of management. He also believes that simply being a boss entitles him to treat others as if they were worth less than him.
Arrogance manifests itself in their gestures, in the tone they use to speak and in the way they perform tasks, these toxic bosses want to intimidate and take fear of their employees as a positive sign, arrogance, in any case, is always more tied to insecurity and lack of confidence than to true superiority.
One of the most obvious signs of a toxic boss is his difficulty listening to others; these types of people believe that paying attention to what employees say is giving it an importance they don’t deserve; assume that listening to subordinates reduces the power they have over them.
A toxic boss doesn’t know how to communicate either. In fact, it could make your instructions unnecessarily complex, simply to intimidate employees, use categorical expressions to try to point out that you have the last word in everything, plus validate what others say, either out of indifference or questioning them. Disrespectfully.
Another characteristic of a toxic boss is that he does not understand the difference between driving and control, nor is he aware of the difference between directing and commanding, he does not trust the people he works with and that is why he thinks that the best strategy is to control even the slightest of his actions. He assumes that it is his duty first and foremosth to constantly monitor and punish conduct that he deems inappropriate.
The toxic boss is also adamant. Always try to classify things in black or white. Suppose that the force is equal to rigidity and that not being extremely strict can make it look weak. Therefore, your orders are not discussed and your ideas are imposed. Things must be done exactly as he says, otherwise they will be punished.
These types of bosses see anger with good eyes, start from the idea that moodiness and irritability are signs of seriousness and responsibility at work, interpret it as an expression of commitment and demand, so it is common to express orders in unpleasant tone or solve a work problem by shouting. They think they have the right to scold their employees.
If you have difficulties with any of your employees, it is most common for them to resolve them by imposing new orders or applying sanctions, they do not care that their employees feel uncomfortable, if they do not follow the rules to the letter they do so for lack of will or character. Among the characteristics of a toxic boss is also its ability to generate an environment of tension and repression, as it assumes that this is valid to maintain a good pace of work.
Having initiative is a sign of autonomy, strength, capacity. Therefore, for a toxic boss, employees with initiative amount to a threat. They even think they are assuming powers that do not belong to them or assume the fact as a challenge to their authority. Therefore, they will reject anyone who presents an innovation or an idea of improvement.
For these types of bosses there is only one way of doing things: theirs, employees quickly understand this type of logic and learn that thinking for themselves or trying to contribute is like provoking it, in the end the organization loses because it is deprived of a template that contributes to initiatives for the work of the entity or the company.
Good time management is critical to smooth management. One of the characteristics of a toxic boss is precisely the mismanagement of time, which includes poor business planning and poor prioritization of activities.
The result is a chaotic environment. Many times it will be necessary to complete the tasks in record time, at other times there will be gaps where there is almost nothing to do, in these cases what prevails is a sense of instability and disorder that results in greater doses of stress and tension.
Bad bosses have no idea what their employees need, in fact they don’t even want to know, they assume that the professional relationship excludes personal aspects and even that they are not relevant to everyday tasks or an obstacle in the workplace.
A toxic boss insists that the personal needs of workers have nothing to do with their duties, as they generally see everything from the point of view of black and white, they will assume the personal difficulties of employees as an excuse not to develop their work or justify a failure.
Although the world’s labor laws are designed to protect workers, in practice there are still many bosses who walk the thin line of the illegal, subtly ignore rights and rely on the volatility of human relations to hide their abusive attitude.
There are many toxic patterns, especially in times of crisis, know that they can cross the line and that many of their employees will not complain about fear of losing their jobs, however, every worker should be aware that they have rights and that they can make respectful claims when they feel abused.
Now that you know how to identify the characteristics of a toxic boss, you will know when the behavior has crossed the line and you can decide how best to handle the situation.