(And then do the opposite!)

Note from Art: I’m hoping (a bad strategy) that the popularization of the “B” word by director Quentin Tarantino and his forthcoming movie “Inglorious Basterds” (with an e?) has desensitized most of us to that harsh term and label.  Apologies if I’ve offended anyone and/or drawn the wrath of your IT spam filter.

Another Note from Art: since several of my former bosses read my posts, please rest assured that none of you are the subjects of or the inspiration for this post! Really!

OK, I am serious about the topic. While I wouldn’t counsel you to seek out and work for a b@st@rd as part of your formal mentoring experience, given the ratio of these characters to good leaders in the workplace, chances are you’ll trip across one or more in your career. When you do, take in the experience as a powerful education in how not to lead.

The Public Executioner!

I still recall the moment earlier in my career when a leader who clearly reveled in leading public executions, used his power and a great command of words to humiliate an individual who had drawn his ire by asking a question about one of his policies. This was at a sales meeting, and the verbal execution continued for two days, sometimes spontaneously generating to fill dead air.

While the boss seemed to gain strength over time, the subject of his attention, a young and in my opinion, a sharp and inquisitive rep, melted into a puddle of human goo. I can’t tell you how many lessons we all drew from that experience. I literally recall vowing to never do that to another human being when it was my day to be in charge.

Most of Us Have Had Close Encounters with Lousy Leaders

I’ve long since concluded that I’m not alone in gaining some great insights on what not to do from lousy leaders. When interviewing for Practical Lessons in Leadership, we were surprised at the number of examples of miserable leaders that served as a kind of opposite inspiration for people.

The result for us in the book was a section devoted to “The Really Bad Habits of Ineffective Leaders,” where we attempted to name and describe the personas of some of these characters.

Perhaps you’ve met them:

  • The All Talk, No Action Leader-loves the sound of his/her voice, babble, babble
  • The Never-Make-A-Decision Leader-holds everyone hostage out of fear of being wrong.
  • The Game-Playing, Fork-Tongued Boss-always screwing with you and will lie to save his hide
  • The Public Humiliator-there’s more than one of these characters…they eviscerate the working environment as well as people.
  • The I’m Your Best Buddy Manager-until he’s not. It’s just a matter of time.
  • The Micro-Manager-not quite evil, but very destructive and debilitating

And my favorite,

  • The Assassin. This one is the most dangerous. He/she plots the corporate kills with cold-hearted thoroughness, pulling the trigger and then slipping back into the office culture without being noticed. They are master politicians and manage to often stay above suspicion while plying their trade. Others know and sense it, but often the higher-ups don’t see this side of the person.  Beware.

The Bottom-Line:

OK, aside from the cathartic benefits of railing at some bad leaders and bad leader archetypes, there is a point here. You can turn a truly bad and hopefully temporary experience into a positive learning situation.

At some point you won’t work for or next to this person, so pay close attention to the impact that his/her odious behaviors have on individuals, groups, overall morale and of course performance, and then silently vow never to do it that way.

When it’s your day at the head of the line, remember that vow.