Just because the boss is lousy doesn't mean you have to be
There is no shortage of bad bosses these days. Recent articles by Gallup CEO, Jim Clifton highlight the, "Worlds Broken Workplace." Clifton cites research indicating only 21% of employees are engaged at work, meaning they are psychologically committed to work, their team, and their organization. 19% are miserable. Read more at Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2022. At the core of this 'brokenness' is bad leadership. I and many others are working on this but we face a colossal challenge.
Employees have good reason to be disgruntled at work, but even under poor leadership they still have a choice, and that choice is to do their very best, or not. To be clear, I'm not talking about toxicity or physical or verbal abuse. That's an entirely different scenario. I'm referring to a non-toxic, but poor performing boss. While an individual may want to give the boss what he or she deserves, they end up screwing the rest of the team instead. Of course, if a person loathes both their boss and their co-workers, they owe it to themselves and the organization to leave - case closed. I find this is usually not the case.
A golden rule applies here. One should not meet poor performance with poor performance - stooping to the level of bad leadership with bad performance. The best way to counter a bad boss is to exceed standards and over-perform. One can shift his or her loyalty away from a bad boss, toward their teammates, the mission, and the greater organization.
If faced with a situation like this, I would do what I could to remove the leader but I if didn't have that power, I would shift my effort to the behavior of the subordinate. I would sit them down for some mentorship and ask them to step up their game. I'd focus on those things the person had control over, such as his or her own performance. I would highlight the real impact and beneficiaries of poor performance - their teammates and the company.
People naturally get emotional and frustrated under poor leadership and they respond by underperforming. It is our duty as leaders to address this. Sometimes all we can do is ask them to step up. Bad boss, unfortunately. Bad employee, not necessarily.
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell