They bully others into working long hours
The boss who doesn’t have a life outside work and who works long hours and then dismissively sneers at others who don’t work as hard as they do.
Worse still is the boss who bullies others into working those same long hours. I had one boss once tell me “If you work for this company, you work weekends”. Suffice to say, I chose not to work for that company much longer.
While you would hope employees share the same passion and commitment to your business as you, remember that they have their own lives and other priorities outside of work. You can ask your members of staff to support you outside of normal business hours – but bullying them into this only causes resentment.
They criticize individuals
The boss who criticizes individual employees on a personal level rather than for their behavior.
For example, I saw a boss once, an insecure man who needed constant reassurance – the type who typically tear down others to make themselves feel better – who told a member of staff that a decision they’d made at work made them look an “amateur” and “stupid”.
If you need to speak with a member of staff about their work, make sure to address the results of their work and not turn the situation into a personality assassination.
Conclusion
Those bosses who discipline employees publicly rather than privately. Bosses who bully their staff into working long hours rather than respecting the contribution those staff already make. Those bosses who are impossible to please, who look to “catch out” staff members making mistakes rather than recognize their achievements. Those bosses who criticize individuals rather than their work.
These are the bosses we don’t like. These are the bosses who believe that compliance by fear and bullying will bring success for them. It won’t. Only a culture of commitment from your staff will help you achieve long-term, sustainable success.