Most people want to be the best they can be. Before you read on and retort with “But I know someone who does all those things on purpose”, note I used the word most.

Most people do not go to work to deliberately do a bad job. They do not go to work with the sole purpose of making other people’s lives a misery. They do not set out with the one and only intent to build a toxic culture. They do not proudly attribute themselves with the characteristics of being disrespectful, noninclusive, unethical, manipulative, cutthroat, and abusive.

When we talk about bad bosses, we attribute them with all the traits, intents and dispositions mentioned above. Yet if they actually exhibited these characteristics, they would a megalomaniac, a tyrant, a narcissist, a dictator, and despot.

We have all had a bad boss at one time or another. Would you really label your bad boss in that manner? I don’t think so. In most cases, the bad boss does not have any deep-seated personality disorders. They are just in the wrong job or unsupported.

1. Different career paths

For far too long we have only provided one option for our great performers, and that is to put them into a people leadership role. This is a massive mistake. All because they are great performers in their field of expertise does not mean they will be a great people leader.

Way back in the late 1990s I worked alongside a team that had the best DB2 analyst programmer. Dan (name changed) was adored by his colleagues. He was a great guy. Likeable, easy to work with, always willing to help. He could plan and direct complex projects, had attention to detail and outstanding developer, analyst, and programmer expertise.

Then, because he was at the top of his field, the decision was made to make Dan the leader of the DB2 team. It was the only way he could be promoted and paid more. It was the worst decision not only for the team but also for Dan. He was not a natural people leader, and he didn’t want to be a people leader. Don’t get me wrong, Dan was most definitely a leader in his field, but he did not want the responsibility for the career development of the team, the performance management, the conflict resolution, and the delegation. He did not see himself as the person who must influence, inspire, and motivate the team. Dan wanted to code and solve complex problems.

Dan as the team leader was a disaster. It was devastating for Dan who saw himself as a failure and devastating for the team who were left drifting at sea with no captain at the helm.

Now, it is not to say that with the right development, coaching and mentoring, Dan could not have become a good people leader. That, we will never know as that was not a part of the deal. Dan was left to flounder and strive to do his best but fell short on most occasions. He would direct rather than influence; explain rather than inspire; delegate tasks rather than delegate authority – all common mistakes made without the right support and development. (See “Provide Support” later in this newsletter).

Dan quit the company and went elsewhere where he could pursue his passion as a developer, analyst, and programmer. The organisation lost a talent they would struggle to replace.

Dan is not alone. There are many people who are exceptionally good at something and then get put into a leadership position because it is the only way the organisation can reward or recognise their contribution.

We must put in place career progression paths other than leading people. Dan would have made an excellent mentor and coach for other developers, programmers, and analysts. He could have continued with his passion for coding whilst helping others to do the same.

There are other career paths that can be offered such as Individual Contributor. These employees contribute and add value to the business without having to lead teams of people. These employees have deep subject matter expertise and are considered talent that must be retained. These Individual Contributors can coach and mentor others with an interest in their area of expertise.

2. Define “good” leadership

If we want our “managers” to become good leaders (if that is their career progression path) then we must define what that looks like.

There is no one-size-fits-all and whilst there will be inherent leadership characteristics across good leaders in many organisations, there will also be variation by organisation. The definition of good leadership must be used as a benchmark when hiring or promoting.

I don’t often recommend bringing in external facilitators but in this instance I do. It is often hard for existing “leaders” to drive a deep scrutinization of what is needed from leaders in the organisation when it is likely to reveal shortcoming in their own capacities and competencies.

An experienced external facilitator can establish a safe environment in which the prevailing message is one not of exposure but opportunity to grow. The facilitator can work with leaders and employees to create a definition of what defines a good leader with their organisation.

When I Googled “define good leadership” it returned 3,640,000,000 results! So, there is plenty of guidance to be leveraged. But you must come up with a definition that is unique to your organisation. One that resonates with every employee.

I my Future of Work Redesigned Compass I split my classification of good leadership into Capacities and Competencies.

Read more about the Capacities and Competencies of good leadership.

3. Take stock

Having defined what good leadership looks like in your organisation, it is time to take stock. How near or far is your leadership capability from that definition?

When you have a clear vision of your current capability a program of development, education, and growth, can be put in place to address the gaps arising. Once again, this must be seen as a development opportunity, not a witch-hunt. Those who continue to see it as the latter should be the first to exit the organisation.

I expect you will find a significant gap resulting from the lack of development, education and growth that has been provided.

The CEO Leadership Report 2021 from Development Dimensions International analysed responses from 368 CEOs and 2,102 human resource executives around the world to understand if they were positioned to deal with the one of the most challenging times ever experienced by businesses. It questioned whether they had the resilience, capability, and agility to drive a successful outcome for their organisation in these unprecedented times.

Only one in three CEOs (34%) said their organisation’s frontline leadership quality was “very good” or “excellent.” Only 38% rated their mid-level leadership quality as high.

I don’t think these CEOs were out of touch, I think they were right, if not over optimistic, regarding the capability of their leaders.

I suspect your results may be similar.

4. Provide support

Once you have identified the gaps, you can put in place the education and development needed to address the gaps. It is the lack of this support that has led to the lack of good leadership in our organisations.

Leadership development has always been lacking as revealed in Harvard Business Review research. Most leaders become a leader in their late 20s or early 30s and receive their first leadership development when they are 42. This gives them over a decade to embed bad habits they learned from their leader who experienced the same!

This is a repetitive cycle that needs to be broken immediately. In my experience most leaders are open to learning and developing new skills and capabilities if given the opportunity.

Leadership development must start before an employee is given a people leadership role and then continue throughout their tenure. Leadership development must be continual and not a one-off event.

The biggest mistake most leadership development programs make is taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Every organisation is different. This includes aspects such as size, culture, structure, industry, and age. Therefore, the development program needs to reflect this context and not just focus on the content of training programs.

The development also needs to enable leaders to apply the learning in their current situation. The theories of good leadership that are provided must be turned into practical actions that leaders can apply in their given context. We can all learn from the likes of Steve Jobs, Warren Bennis, Bill Gore and but that does not make us good leaders. We need to be able to tie our learning into actions.

In addition to the development program(s), provide leaders with access to leadership coaches. Create leadership support networks where leaders can share their successes and explore their challenges. Peer support is powerful but often absent.

5. Keep assessing and evaluating

A challenge can be knowing if your leadership development programs are working and having the desired impact.

I think that looking at the leader you have developed is not going to tell you too much. Look at the team and how well they are performing. How engaged, motivated, and inspired are they? This will tell you how well your leadership development is doing.

Check on tenure with the team, people opting to move to another team, or leaving the organisation. Has the turnover in that team bee reduced? Evaluate the application of the new skills that leaders have acquired. Check in with the team and get their feedback. This, of course, requires an environment of transparency and psychological safety.

It is also important to get feedback from those undertaking the development. Do they feel they are a better leader as a result? What was the most important learning? Would you recommend this program to other leaders? How could we improve the program and the learning experience?

Remember that the context in which leadership operates is forever changing. Sometimes those changes have a significant impact of the capabilities needed by leaders. For example, the capabilities required of leaders has changed considerably since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Many leaders led a fully in-person team which became a remote team overnight and is now becoming a hybrid team. The competencies and capacities needed in all these contexts are different. Therefore, leadership development needs to reflect the leadership capability needed both today and tomorrow, not yesterday.

Summary

Recognise that most bad leaders are not bad people. They are either in a role they do not want, or they have not had the education, development, and support to succeed in that role.

Provide alternative career paths for those who do not want people leadership responsibility and for those that do, provide them with a contextual and customised leadership development program which evolves over time as needs change.

Bad Bosses Are Not Bad People