Jason, Freddy, Chucky… from horror movies to ghost stories around a campfire, some people like the thrill of a good fright. A few of us have paid real money to watch a psychopathic, knife-wielding doll terrorize full-sized adult people. I’m not saying who, cough cough, but some of us have. Still, we aren’t so thrilled about being scared at work. Yet, scary things do happen.
Last month, I wrote a blog on horrible management styles. It was mostly tongue-in-cheek. Or so I thought. This month, with Halloween right around the corner, I asked a few people to share some management horror stories. And… wow. It’s enough to send shivers down your spine, especially when we know retention is harder than ever, and turnover costs organizations in big ways.
Scary Work Stories
I once worked for a small office that collected unpaid physical therapy claims from auto insurers. It wasn’t exactly a fun job, but it was super close to home (I had just had my first son), the people in the office were nice, and I had hit it off with one of the other collectors (work friends are great). The claims reps I spoke to every day were professional and helpful, so it wasn’t dreadful to make those calls. Everyone was a joy, except for my boss. She was a nightmare and caused me and others in the office more stress than I care to admit. I honestly don’t remember her name, but I remember the fear that would sweep across the office as she headed to the fax machine; this was the 90s. You could see brows furrow with worry and a sheen of cold sweat on the faces of my office mates.
Why?
Because if a fax came through and it sat unattended for more than 30 seconds, she would literally lose her mind. Someone, anyone, was required to jump up at the sound of the fax and deliver it to the correct person. If she walked by the machine and found a fax sitting there, never mind that it just came through or that people are on the phones nonstop as part of their jobs, she would, and I swear I am not making this up, YELL AT EVERYONE, loudly and rudely. She had no qualms about berating people in front of other people or simply berating the entire office at once, she was efficient that way. I never understood why faxes created such a sense of anger. We were all good about checking the machine and distributing them, and nothing sat there for an unusual amount of time.
I didn’t bother to find out why she hated faxes so much. Or her team. I left that job faster than you can imagine, as did my friend, not on the same day, but neither of us gave notice. We simply reached our limit. I’m not proud of that, but I was young, I was intimidated, and I was miserable. I was also pretty good at that job, having worked on the other side of the insurance equation. I had a knack for getting claims paid. I left the manager and the culture, not the job.
The obvious lesson is, “never scream at people.” Also, don’t get upset about inconsequential stuff; there is plenty of big stuff to worry about.
One of my Omnia colleagues told me she took a job in outside sales where the sales manager would walk around the cubicles and listen to conversations, even between teammates. Worse, and by far creepier, he would track when you went to the bathroom. He would also line people up in his office and scream about sales numbers. Screaming seems popular amongst nightmare managers. He also made negative comments like, “I don’t want to hear any family or kid stories.” I find it unlikely anyone was eager to share anything with him. My colleague said this was the worst leader and most demoralizing job she has ever had. Like me, she quit.
The obvious lesson here again is never scream at people, and don’t follow them to the bathroom.
The Cost of Nightmare Leadership
The less obvious problem is that my colleague and I liked the jobs. We might have even liked the companies if we were able to see past the toxic boss. So it begs the question: How many employees does an organization lose because of a nightmare leader? The longer the horror draws out, the more people lost and the more expensive the cost to what could otherwise be a great organization.
These were actual horror stories that drove good employees away. Someone who could have stopped the bleeding definitely noticed. It’s hard to say what not taking action cost them. But more often than not, the issue isn’t a nightmare leader at all, it’s just a leader who has not had the opportunity to hone their leadership soft skills or learn how to manage at an individual versus a one-size-fits-all level. When a leader is interested in learning as they grow and making adjustments to keep getting better, along with treating people with respect and fairness, companies can retain top performers and reduce unwanted turnover.
Behavioral Insight to the Rescue
Omnia can help in two ways using the power of behavioral insight. First, understanding the personality tendencies and personal motivators of your team is a way to personalize each manager-employee relationship and connect with team members in a way that will resonate with them. Second, taking the time to learn about our own tendencies as a leadership self-awareness exercise improves our ability to relate to other people, appreciate their differences, and work to meet their personal motivators.
For example, knowing that you are highly social but one of your employees is reserved will help you approach that person differently and communicate with them differently. You might like to pop in and start brainstorming while this particular employee finds that frustrating. Instead, you could provide some initial information, ask them to think it over, and then set a time to go over ideas. Someone else on your team might love when someone pops by to hash over a problem. Neither is wrong or bad, but a leader who can appeal to both by taking the time to uncover preferences will be a hero.
A Final Note about Nightmares
Screaming, tracking people’s bathroom breaks, eavesdropping on conversations, and other scary management behaviors go beyond normal misalignment of behavioral preferences. They tend to indicate a concern with a manager’s ability to think through consequences using basic empathy and professional judgment. This could show as low Perspective on an Omnia Assessment. Even if you aren’t near enough to hear the screaming, you can tell a manager with low Perspective by their pale, sweaty, angry employees, and by the high turnover rate.
Of course, regardless of personality type, communication style, or perspective rating, screaming is never going to motivate anyone. The only time we should be screaming is if we are being chased by a demented 2-foot tall, red-headed, knife-wielding doll.
