The 4 Signs You’ve Got A Toxic Boss And What You Can Do About It

Gallup reports that 70 percent of employee motivation is based on one factor: the boss. A toxic boss can cause motivation to drop, productivity to sink and morale to suffer. These unwanted consequences are just the tip of the iceberg. Think about your boss for a second. Is frustration the first thing that comes to mind?

With the economy continuing to sputter, workers are hesitant to seek new positions. Understandable, considering that 870,000 people filed for unemployment last week. Before you bail out into an uncertain job market, consider that there might be some solutions that could help your relationship with your toxic boss. If you’re experiencing these four management fails listed below, the big question is: are you willing to work on your supervisor situation? Below you will find some guidance on how to make the best of a bad situation. But first, here are four characteristics of a toxic boss:

1. Taking credit for your work - This management philosophy is based on a faulty assumption: namely, what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine. Have you ever had a boss take your work and own it - leaving you wondering if recognition is still a thing? If you’re being overlooked, or your effort is being ignored, you could have a toxic boss. The poison part is that ownership isn’t given, it’s taken. This scenario makes you feel as if your effort is invisible. Have you been there?

2. Unable to admit mistakes - the fault-finder boss is often the first to point out a mistake but the last to own one. The toxic boss offers control instead of collaboration. Leaders see the way things are and - in spite of the flaws and shortcomings we all have - they manage to inspire us to be better. Mistakes happen: how you and your boss address those mistakes is the key to a positive partnership.

3. Feedback fumble - when it’s time for your review, or even just some constructive feedback, the toxic boss will botch the conversation. Typically, what’s missing is empathy: the ability to see your challenges is elusive for a toxic boss. While leaders can’t give in to obstacles (and neither should you) it’s helpful to be able to admit that challenges exist. Without this empathetic acknowledgement, you can feel “less than” and incapable when you’re talking with a toxic boss. The key to your success is to pick up the fumble. Don’t stop with just identifying a problem: share your game plan for overcoming the challenge - or ask for help so that you can. Find new options and new solutions. Because, when someone tells me, “I’ve tried everything!” I quietly and politely add, “...except what works.” Don’t stop searching for new solutions - it’s your job to pick up the fumble!

4. Micromanagement - surveillance of workers has increased exponentially during the coronavirus. Remote workers are being monitored - even down to the keystroke - adding a new layer of complexity to working from home. The toxic boss buys into this misunderstanding: How can we control outcomes if we don’t control the process? In this misinformed Forbes article, the author asserts that “Micromanagers want to control the outcomes, not the people involved.” Nothing could be further from the truth! Micromanagers want to control people, processes, agendas...outcomes are never the focus. Because a concentration on outcomes is called “leadership”, not micromanagement!

You’ve got to wonder what’s driving these bad behaviors for your toxic boss. It’s too easy to say, “My boss is an idiot, that’s why this situation is toxic!” Is that really true? Is that the whole story? Seems to me that it takes two to tango. Don’t you have a say in this relationship, and the ability to express what it is that you need, want and deserve?

Don’t fall into the blame game, if you want to try and make things work. Behavior that you label as “arrogant”, “idiotic” or “unproductive” might be driven by something you don’t see just yet. Do you really understand where your toxic boss is coming from? A deeper understanding of the challenges facing your boss might help you to better address your own. What’s leading your boss to take credit for your work? Why is micromanagement the method? Is it an unchangeable leadership choice, a personality flaw - or something else?

Some toxic bosses aren’t interested in accessing the one skill that could change everything. That skill? Listening. Without listening, there are limits. Limits to input. Limits on possibilities.

Limits on your career.

Maybe listening isn’t part of the conversation right now, and progress is at a standstill. Maybe the toxic behavior is something you’ve reported to HR - and it’s a pattern that goes beyond personality, into the realm of something harmful or dangerous. Whatever your situation, don’t stay silent.

The antidote to toxic behavior is always the same: take action. Speak up. Consider new perspectives. Look in the direction of greater understanding, so that any decision you make will come from a place of wisdom. What if part of your job is to help your boss be better? What if you looked in the direction of greater service - what would you do? Maybe you’d see a way to turn your circumstances around. Or maybe you’d see that moving out is the only way forward. Silence and inaction won’t resolve your situation. Whatever choice you make, make sure you move forward from a better understanding than the one you have now. Because a new perspective is the first step towards changing your career.