Question: How Bad Is Your Boss?
No matter where you work, you cannot escape the boss. He or she can be demanding, can be out of touch, and can stress you out. Shaun Belding, a consultant and author, developed a quiz about the seven deadly sins of being a boss. Answer yes or no to the following questions to find out how bad your boss really is:
If you answered yes to one or two questions, you have a stressful boss the odd time. If you answered yes to three to six questions, you have a bad boss and need to take action. If you confront the boss, make sure you can substantiate your claims. If you answered yes to all seven questions, you have the boss from hell and should leave the workplace. Jack Welsh, named the toughest boss ever, built General Electric (GE) into a $400 billion powerhouse. He likens the boss's role to that of a gardener: "But some of the garden has weeds, and you have to cut those weeds out." He cut 100 000 of those weeds out of GE in massive layoffs in the 1980s, and every year he pruned by cutting out the bottom 10 percent of his workforce. His approach has been controversial, but Welsh makes no apologies. He adds that a boss is only as good as the number of employees he or she has helped develop.
A unit will sink if the boss does not build up great people. Can you train a boss to be better? Robert Lemieux is the director of sales at the Delta Chelsea in Toronto. He has goals of reaching vice-president or president of the hotel, and knows he has to be a great boss to achieve that success. So, Lemieux is going to Boss Boot Camp. His drill sergeant, Lindsay Sukornyk, runs a coaching company on how to be a better manager. She meets with Lemieux's employees to hear about his leadership style. Employees see Lemieux as extremely professional, selfcontained, caring, and very intuitive in his leadership style. On the other hand, he sometimes appears standoffish and too busy to speak with employees. He also has a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver because of time constraints and competing demands. Lemieux should try to relinquish control, Sukornyk suggests. Can Lemieux change his ways? He has owned up to his weaknesses and promises to do less talking and more listening. Lemieux feels the first team meeting with the new agenda was very powerful. It allowed employees to communicate how he could be a more effective leader- and they are committed to keeping him on task.
1. Would you identify Jack Welsh as a charismatic leader? Explain.
2. Is Robert Lemieux a manager or a leader? Explain.
3. If you were speaking in front of a room of top executives, what advice would you offer about why being a bad boss does not make good business sense?