BOSSES
An expert opinion
What types of boss are there ? How do you identify them ? And how do I know if I ’ m working with a bad boss ? Here , Naomi Spinks , EA at AECOM , grills workplace guru and author of Bad Boss , Michelle Gibbings on all this and more
Naomi : Your book , in essence , deals with negative workplace environments , characterised by ineffective leadership and how we identify those different types of leadership . So , what are the types of bad boss ? And how can an EA identify if their boss is one of the bad ones ?
Michelle : When we think about a ‘ bad boss ’ we often have that image in our head of the narcissist ; the corporate psychopath , or the person who ’ s there to make our life miserable . But I often say there are [ also ] people who are a bad boss because they are ineffective . I look at that in two ways . Firstly , what ’ s the intent of the person when they ’ re leading ? And what ’ s their awareness of the impact that their behaviour is having ? Secondly , are they aware of the impact they are having ?
I ask this because there are some bosses who are fully aware that they are not very nice people to work for – they don ’ t care . And there are others who are not aware of the impact that they ’ re having . They ’ re genuinely nice people – just really hard to work for . I ’ ve worked for a few people like that .
There ’ s that person I classify as the ‘ mercenary ’ because they just don ’ t care . It ’ s all about them and what they can get out of it . Their mantra is ‘ just don ’ t get in the way of my success ’. Then there ’ s the person I call the ‘ believer ’ and I ’ ve worked for someone like this – a genuinely nice person but they weren ’ t aware of the impact they were having because they were ineffective . They were disorganised ; always running late . Everything got done in a rush because of their disorganisation . They wanted everyone to be happy and everyone to like them , which means they wouldn ’ t step in and have those tough conversations that they often needed to have .
Then we ’ ve got the ‘ illusionist ’. This person is , in some respect , the classic narcissist . They just don ’ t care . All they want is to look good , and they want the people around them to say yes and help them look good . The ultimate boss , who is the good boss , is the person who is absolutely aware of the impact they are having – and they are striving for good intent . I call them the ‘ liberator ’ because they are the people who really strive to bring out the best in those around them .
One of the key things when you ’ re working with people j
Winter Issue 2024 | Executive PA 25