5 signs you're a lousy boss

Photo Credit: Flickr user pboyd04

Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Suzanne Lucas for CBS MoneyWatch, the CBS Interactive Business Network. To check out an abundance of valuable resources and obtain a free subscription to one or more of the website’s newsletters, please click here.

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(Money Watch) COMMENTARY Everyone has horror stories about bad bosses. Then when we become the boss, we tend to think that we’re only doing what is necessary and, by the way, that employees cause all the problems.

Thing is, part of a manager’s job is to handle bad employees; an employee shouldn’t have to handle a bad boss. So how do you know if you are one? Here are [two of] five signs that you’re failing in your job as a manager.

1. Your employees lie to you. This may sound like a bad employee problem, but why do they need to lie to you? Do you make unreasonable demands? Punish people excessively for mistakes? Interrogate them over why they need time off? These things all create a culture where your employees feel the only way they can get what they need is to lie. A culture of openness and understanding makes for employees who will speak honestly with you.

2. No other managers want to poach your employees. A good manager develops good employees. Other managers want good employees. If you are developing good employees, your peers will express interest in working with them. If you spend more time trying to get rid of bad employees than trying to keep your good ones, the problem may be with you.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Suzanne Lucas spent 10 years in corporate Human Resources. She’s hired, fired, and analyzed the numbers for several major companies. She founded the Carnival of HR, a bi-weekly gathering of HR blogs, and her writings have been used in HR certification and management training courses across the country.

To read her other articles, please click here.

 

 

 

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