5 Ways to Be a Terrible Boss: # 1: The Hammer

This 5 part series is about ways in which you can be seen as a terrible boss. I do NOT want you to be seen that way. This and the next 4 blog posts are going to be behaviors which are viewed as being terrible to your followers. Check yourself; make sure you are not doing these 5 things.

How is it to work for a boss who knows everything?

     You know the type, no matter their experience, training, or education they have the answer to the problem. It may not even be a problem but they have the solution. And they are not quiet about sharing their opinion which is quickly turned into direction and called to act upon. The “Hammer” is the leader who springs into action before they understand all the facts, the self-confident (or self-absorbed) leader who takes counsel from no one and chronically makes decisions alone. The Hammer leader is the one who does not encourage discussion before a decision.

Hammer leaders make it difficult to create a culture of collaboration and inclusion. Self-centered, Hammer leaders can make snap decisions without looking for support from their team or full knowledge of the actual problem. Irrational in the fear that if they don’t have an answer they will be viewed as a poor leader, Hammer leaders tend to go with an initial gut response. These actions actually undermine the unit. Some problems may have been experienced before by a unit member. Allowing involvement of staff permits those with experience with the problem to have solid and proven input.

Seeking help builds the cohesion of the unit by allowing unit workers to be solvers of problems too. They have “buy in” now to the solution. The Hammer steals that opportunity from the staff. The action of the Hammer to act solo derails any consensus building for the solution. Your staff having input to a problem means you validate worth of their input and seek the value of them being on your staff and unit.

So are you a Hammer leader? Self-assessment skills are going to be critical in looking at the 5 ways you could be a terrible leader. Terrible leaders are not what we want in our RN2Leader community. So, do you have the tendencies to quickly react in a situation without full information and to believe you have to have the answer to every problem? Do you create a culture where no one who works for you can provide suggested answer to the problems at work?

Stop. And it is not too late. The Hammer leader has responded this way because they believe the leader is the sole source of direction in the unit. They must have all the answer because not to have them means I am not the leader. This false logic has destroyed more organizations than can be counted.

As the leader you are there to create the atmosphere and culture for the organization to succeed. You cannot, will not, have all the answers. And your team is there to support you. When problems arise, as time allows, the collaborative answer will always provide a more successful outcome then one which did not filter through several workers. Here are 4 steps to take if you are a Hammer boss:

1. Identify you are a Hammer. This self-critique is critical to making a change
2. Determine the criticality of timeliness in decision making. Those decisions which don’t require an immediate response to stop a crisis, harm, or irreversible damage can wait to be made. Many times we let others determine how fast to make this decision. As the leader it is yours. Take the time to understand the problem and when a response is needed.
3. Trust your team to support you. If you don’t trust them, you need to determine the reason why. If incompetence, then remove them. Trusting your team means you value their input to the unit and organization. The trust you have in your team builds trust among team members. There is confidence and credibility when team members know their leader values their input and will take it into consideration for solutions.
4. Seek to be quiet. Do you turn off healthy discussion? Seek to be quiet means this will or may not be easy to be quiet. When your next problem arises, bring staff members together and present the problem…and then be quiet. Let them, allow them, to take the lead on looking at options and solutions. Present them the chance to take on the problem and come up with a solution which will work. Then enact it. Taking a step back and allowing someone take the lead is tough for most leaders, but it is required for the development of you and your team.

The Hammer leader drops unexpectedly. The goal is not to lead with the Hammer response when problems arise. Regaining control after you have ineffectively dropped the Hammer is crucial to rebuilding trust with your team. It is possible. Know your weakness and work to change your behaviors and the Hammer mentality.

Leading with you!

Dean

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