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Until mankind figures out how to STOP promoting crappy people to positions of power, it’s important to be able to spot a Bad Boss when you see one. Bad bosses often use many of the same manipulative messages to get employees to neglect themselves in favor of the company. Here are a few of the most common, per HuffPost.
The first and perhaps worst: “We’re like a family here.” Bosses use this “family” rhetoric to get employees to feel WAY more obligated to the company than they need to be. They also use it as an excuse to get away with all types of shockingly immoral behavior, which, um, is not how healthy family members treat one another.
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Other manipulative phrases that bosses may use include “Everything is fine” or “That’s not my problem” — both of which serve to dismiss employees’ problems and refuse accountability.
“This behavior silences the employee and discourages them from bringing further problems or issues to the boss’ attention, which results in a drag in performance and efficiency because problems chronically remain unsolved,” Randy Conley, vice president of client services and trust practice leader at the Ken Blanchard Companies, told HuffPost.
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More controlling messages: A bad boss might tell you that they “need you to be available at any time.” (Expecting employees not to have ANY off hours is 100% toxic!) Or, they’ll try to convince employees not to push back or challenge their authority in any way. They say things like, “This is how we’ve always done it,” or “Don’t you agree?” The latter is, of course, not really a fair question!
You may or may not be trapped with your bad boss for the time being, but if you can learn to see right through their tactics, you may just come out of it with your sanity intact.
