is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to dea

Bosses, also called coaches, are a fact of life unless you are self employed. In that case, your clients and your potential clients are your bosses. But in business, non-profits and organizations, bosses are a reality whether you are a clerk in a mom and pop operation or the number two executive over a multi-billion dollar global corporation. In my twenty-five plus years working for five corporations of varying sizes, I had nearly as many bosses as I had years of employment. Some were great. Many were average. And some were just awful. It is this last category that is the topic of this article. The five worst boss characteristics follow. In each example I have also described the desired trait.

“No show Mo” (names changed to protect the innocent) had a long career in sales and on corporate sales staff. He liked to spend time outside of the office. What did he do when outside of the office? Personal investments, family matters and anything but his job. Mo decided I would be his official second in command. He knew he could count on me. I was young, loyal and na?ve. I would receive no additional pay or perks for doing double duty. Mo gave me a “delegation of authority” so I could do his job and mine. I reviewed all his mail and signed all the sales contracts. I handled customer complaints. He got the credit and the raises when everything went well. When something went wrong, I got the blame. The desired trait here is accountability. If you are the boss, you take the good and the bad. Do not pass off your job to an underling.

“Will” was a brilliant man. He had an advanced degree, great ideas and worked very, very hard. The perfect boss right? Wrong! Will also had no personal life. As one of his direct reports, I became his surrogate for a personal life. After a long day of work, he would call me into his office to talk. And to talk. And to talk some more. About his past, his life, his weight, his ex-wives, about his career and about just about anything except work. I had a wife and young kids at home. Did he care? No! I was a built-in audience for the duration of the time that I worked for him. The desired trait here is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to deat

It is this last category that is the topic of this article. The five worst boss characteristics follow. In each example I have also described the desired trait.

“No show Mo” (names changed to protect the innocent) had a long career in sales and on corporate sales staff. He liked to spend time outside of the office. What did he do when outside of the office? Personal investments, family matters and anything but his job. Mo decided I would be his official second in command. He knew he could count on me. I was young, loyal and na?ve. I would receive no additional pay or perks for doing double duty. Mo gave me a “delegation of authority” so I could do his job and mine. I reviewed all his mail and signed all the sales contracts. I handled customer complaints. He got the credit and the raises when everything went well. When something went wrong, I got the blame. The desired trait here is accountability. If you are the boss, you take the good and the bad. Do not pass off your job to an underling.

“Will” was a brilliant man. He had an advanced degree, great ideas and worked very, very hard. The perfect boss right? Wrong! Will also had no personal life. As one of his direct reports, I became his surrogate for a personal life. After a long day of work, he would call me into his office to talk. And to talk. And to talk some more. About his past, his life, his weight, his ex-wives, about his career and about just about anything except work. I had a wife and young kids at home. Did he care? No! I was a built-in audience for the duration of the time that I worked for him. The desired trait here is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to dea

. I would receive no additional pay or perks for doing double duty. Mo gave me a “delegation of authority” so I could do his job and mine. I reviewed all his mail and signed all the sales contracts. I handled customer complaints. He got the credit and the raises when everything went well. When something went wrong, I got the blame. The desired trait here is accountability. If you are the boss, you take the good and the bad. Do not pass off your job to an underling.

“Will” was a brilliant man. He had an advanced degree, great ideas and worked very, very hard. The perfect boss right? Wrong! Will also had no personal life. As one of his direct reports, I became his surrogate for a personal life. After a long day of work, he would call me into his office to talk. And to talk. And to talk some more. About his past, his life, his weight, his ex-wives, about his career and about just about anything except work. I had a wife and young kids at home. Did he care? No! I was a built-in audience for the duration of the time that I worked for him. The desired trait here is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to dea

as and worked very, very hard. The perfect boss right? Wrong! Will also had no personal life. As one of his direct reports, I became his surrogate for a personal life. After a long day of work, he would call me into his office to talk. And to talk. And to talk some more. About his past, his life, his weight, his ex-wives, about his career and about just about anything except work. I had a wife and young kids at home. Did he care? No! I was a built-in audience for the duration of the time that I worked for him. The desired trait here is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to dea

is business is business. If you want someone to talk to about your life, do not drag your subordinate into this role. Look elsewhere for a sympathetic listener. Not only is this bad form for a boss, it creates a level familiarity not positive for the workplace. Keep it business.

“Luther” was a grizzled old line manager. He was probably not as old as he seemed at the time. He had worked his way up from non-management to supervisor to manager. And he reveled in his authority. Every technician, clerk and supervisor was scared to death of him. Except me. I was at the time the new kid just out of college. He liked to intimidate everyone with his yelling and belittling. He gave no mercy to any of his subordinates. He would get on his speakerphone and yell at a supervisor mercilessly. He would do this while I sat in his office – and he would smile while he was doing it. He thought it was quite funny. The desired trait is respect. Treat all your people with respect. Those you supervise, your peers and those above you in the chain of command. Showing respect for others will cause others to respect you.

“Ian” was from another country but had been working in the U.S. for several years. He had worked for several large companies and always been successful jumping to a new job. He liked to build strong relationships with his bosses and their bosses. This was priority number one in his mind and actions. While I could list innumerable qualities of Ian that one should not emulate as a boss, I will just focus on the most outrageous. Ian never returned an e-mail, he never left a voice mail message and he never wrote anything down. He attributed it to technology. In fact, Ian wanted no trail of anything he ever did, said or wanted done. No “finger prints” of any kind. As such he could blame his subordinates for anything and everything. And conversely he could also take credit for anything. It worked well for him for a while. The only problem was that his subordinates, did not trust him and despised him for his behavior.

The desired trait is integrity. If you are unwilling to write anything down or leave a message, then you must be hiding something. And even if you are not, your people will think you are hiding something. While you do not need mountains of paper, thousand of e-mails or hundreds of voice mails, responding in kind is reassuring to members of a team. Document objectives and appraisals on paper and sign them. E-mails with questions should be responded to in a like manner. Calls should be returned with calls. If no one answers, leave a voice mail message to respond to the question or issue and close the matter. It is a matter of trust. The boss must