The One Sentence That Describes What’s Missing From Every Bad Boss Mindset That Would Change The Game For Workers
Great bosses understand the jobs of everyone they manage.
Fizkes / Shutterstock.com Fortune 100 creative executive Timm Chiusano, was featured on Grace Beverley’s “Working Hard” podcast to discuss how bad bosses can impact an entire workplace.
While discussing workplace dynamics, he shared one very specific sentence that is missing from every bad boss' mindset and how it has the power to change an entire business culture.
There’s one sentence that describes what's missing from every bad boss' mindset that could transform the work culture of their teams.
Not only do a great deal of workers dislike their bosses, but many are willing to quit purely because of them. According to a 2022 survey, a whopping 82% would actually consider quitting because of bad management.
So, while it’s clear that a bad boss can make or break an employee’s job satisfaction, what exactly is it that makes a bad boss truly bad?
Well, at least according to Chiusano, who’s more than well-versed in corporate culture, there’s a specific mindset difference between good bosses and bad bosses that has the power to transform everyone’s experience.
It's easy to breathe down an employee's neck to try and get them to produce, but it's quite another to actually understand what they need to do to perform the task.
Most bad bosses disregard what it actually takes to do the job of every member of their team.
“It’s understanding the effort behind the ask,” Chiusano explained. “If you walk over to somebody else’s desk and say, ‘Yo, I need this. I need this, like, now.’ Do you have any idea what that is or what keystrokes it takes that person to get that done?”
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He furthered, “Especially if you think in a large matrix organization, the more you understand how other people are doing their jobs, even at a high level, then you’re going to treat them a bit kinder.”
If an employee doesn't believe their boss could do their job, or worse, doesn't understand what it takes to produce results, why should they try? That's the definition of being undervalued.
“The purpose, tools, communication – which includes the impact that they’re having — the culture, making sure you have very specific things that are going to ensure that all of that’s happening in the right way — I think that’s a pretty magic recipe for people to be [cool].”
This kind of healthy understanding between bosses and their teams helps employees thrive because they feel appreciated.
When people feel acknowledged for their efforts, it empowers them to do better work more efficiently.
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Of course, everyone knows the habits of their own bad bosses — they might be uncompassionate, completely ignorant, or disconnected from their role, workplace, and team.
Many worker experiences reflect the disconnect many bad bosses have with their employees at work by simply neglecting to acknowledge what it takes to get their work done.
They also tend to be more interested, insightful, and probing into areas of workers’ lives that shouldn’t be inherently attended to by a boss at work, like the reason for personal days, the necessity of their breaks, their social media, or even their personal lives once they clock out.
As easily as bad bosses can create a toxic workplace, Chiusano illustrated how beautifully and simply a good manager can transform the workplace environment to everyone's benefit. All it takes is stepping out of your managerial role and understanding each employee as a person.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.