Here's some more to add to the list
I report directly to our COO, who runs our company in place of the owner, who we rarely see. These are his bad traits.
1. Making all decisions, micro-management. As the IT director, this makes life miserable, as every technical question needs to be dumbed down to an imbecile who is going to make the decisions on what we will do technology-wise. Mind you, one of my help desk techs this very week had to show him how to create a new folder on his desktop. I like to say, "Thank God for my boss. Because if he wasn't there to hold the company up on his shoulders, we'll all die underneath in a fiery inferno.
2. He actually complains about other senior managers in front of other senior managers. Then he wonders why there's low morale. Morale stems from above. No manager should complain about other managers in front of their subordinates. How can I respect our VP of Quality when our COO tells me the VP is a moron and incompetent.
3. Creates a privilege class that gets all the perks and benefits and good salaries. As part of that class, it's nice, but at the same time, I don't perpetuate that in my own department because it gets my staff angry. Our VP of Engineering went on a honeymoon to Europe, came back and submitted an expense report for a "sales trip" to Europe at the tune of $12K. One of our AP clerks showed this to several other people, and it became company-wide knowledge almost overnight, including my three IT staff. Then, I have to tell my staff to cut costs and budgets, and they of course are not motivated to. Why should they? If they save $30K off the IT budget for the fourth quarter, history shows that it's most likely going to go to pay for some higher up's vacation. Why should my staff care about that?
4. Coincides with your second point about keeeping secrets. I am told company secrets and asked not to spread them to anyone. I keep my word but then hear it from our receptionist. Why? Because our COO told that same secret to everyone else. So where's teh secrecy? Spreading information to people, even if they're not part of the decision making process, makes employees feel a part of the company, and they will care more about the company's success.
Toni, great post. Unfortunately, many managers are not willing to evaluate their own performance. The true, great managers are leaders who evaluate themselves as much as the performance of the team. When a problem happens, the great manager looks in the mirror and says, "What did I do wrong?" instead of "What did my team do wrong?"
Everything in companies stem from above, because those are the people with authority. If you have the right people in place, you're good. If not, your company is doomed to mediocrity.
