User:Drparas/sandbox/Emotions

AT WORK CHALLENGES Do You Have a Difficult Boss?

Nothing makes a work environment more toxic than a very difficult boss, especially one that demeans and devalues his subordinates. It creates a very hostile workplace when the people that work under them feel unappreciated and that the work they do has no value. This kind of daily treatment makes it really hard for anyone to work at an optimum level when the boss continually berates them.

While the results are usually the same, there are many different ways that difficult bosses can be found in a business. The following are several different types of ways bosses behave that can create very hostile work environments:

An overly aggressive boss

The overly aggressive boss is really easy to identify in any workplace, they often have outrageous expectations of their workers. They will often exceed what are considered normal boundaries when dealing with subordinates. They will often overlook other people’s rights in order to accomplish their agenda. They will also stop at nothing in order to reach their goals, despite the effect on other employees or the company as a whole. An uncommunicative boss

An absentee boss can be equally destructive to the effectiveness of the people who work under them as an aggressive boss. In order for an employee to know that they are performing at a high level, the boss needs to be there to tell them. So if you have a boss that is so “hands off” and refuses to get involved, then the workers have no idea if they are working effectively.

An excessively stubborn or non-cooperative boss

Stubbornness can be potentially very harmful to the harmony of any workforce when the boss refuses to accept when the things they are expecting the group to do is wrong. It is made to be even worse when the boss cannot bring themselves to accept when they are wrong. Having a boss that is so uncooperative can actually destroy cohesiveness of a well-working organization by lowering morale.

A boss who does not listen to reason

Any good boss has to be open and willing to listen to their subordinates. When a boss thinks that only their way is the right way and is totally unable or willing to see that there could possibly be another way, it diminishes the value of the people under them. A good boss has to be open to other idea and to be able to see that their way may not be the only or best way to accomplish the work of the group or department.

A bosses self-awareness

There are so many different types of bosses and their behavior varies greatly from the overbearing, aggressive to the standoffish and aloof. Unfortunately, far too many of them are so focused on results to see what effects their behavior has on their subordinates. An overly aggressive and spiteful person may not realize that they are causing their people to be less productive the harder they push them.

This type of boss is usually totally obvious to the fact that they have created such a toxic work environment. It normally takes a serious situation for them to finally realize that they are truly are bad as their employees think they are.

In any business, the boss sets the tone for the whole group and if the boss happens to fit into any one of the aforementioned behavioral class, then chances are there is a very toxic work environment. This toxicity will permeate throughout the company and destroy morale which will have a devastating effect on the productivity of the workgroup. A difficult boss can make it hard for even the best employees to feel that they are able to perform at their best and that can jeopardize that ability of the company to succeed.

Any successful business must be able to recognize that there is no place for this type of behavior and to avoid it at all cost.