My Worst Manager. Your Worst Manager
Take a moment to remember the worst manager you’ve ever had. Do you remember how they made you feel every day? It’s a common idea amongst professionals that people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. I believe this wholeheartedly and I’ve built The Spectrum Perspective to make those bad managers a thing of the past!
The worst manager I ever had was an insecure obnoxious person that constantly saught the praise of others, and would stir up drama just to be able to complain about how terrible her employees were. Despite these things, she still could have been at least a decent manager, but she didn’t know how to communicate. We often talk about all speaking English but not speaking the same language. No matter how many times I explained my communication needs and pleaded for some sort of acknowledgment that she heard and understood, I was always met with ridicule, animosity, and contempt… NOT real communication. This isn’t what people would call a friendly environment! Over the course of only a few months, two of my colleagues that also reported to this manager had to be hospitalized due to heart problems brought on by stress. She would yell, scream, and vent, but never would accomplish anything. Whenever anyone would speak up and consider leaving, she would use guilt to shame them into staying. She would reference that if they weren’t there to do their job, she would have to. We were a community non-profit, so she would use the low-income clients that depended on us as emotional blackmail to keep us bound to our jobs and to her.
If you have a boss like this, or worse, you have one on your team and they are messing your people up, it’s not too late to make a change, or to make a difference for that manager. I feel strongly that people don’t want to be that way. Often times they just lack the tools to be the leader they need to be. In any business or organization, your most important asset is your human capital. Don’t spend all that time, money, and resources to nurture your team just to have them leave due to a manager like the one I had.