5 Traits Bosses Find Annoying
Already your thinking, “only 5?” After managing people for over 20 years, I thought I’d hone in on the ones that just never seem to go away. Admittedly, everyone has their own pet peeves, but these are mine:
1. The know it all. I’m all for feedback, and I especially encourage managers to ask for feedback on a regular basis. But there’s feedback and then there’s that person that just can’t wait to tell you what you did wrong. Or even better, what you should be doing that you’re not. To all those know it alls out there, “ we know we’re not perfect!” But there’s probably a reason we have the job and you don’t.
2. The person who can’t filter- anything. These people have zero tact. They are clueless when they’ve hurt someone’s feelings and the word “sensitive” is not in their vocabulary. They’ve probably been through therapy where they’ve been told to always share their feelings. They tend to send scathing emails and always, I mean always, hit “reply to all”.
3. The talker. Everyone has one. They pontificate at every meeting. They elicit groans when they open their mouth. And while not always, they often don’t have anything important to say. The saying, “if you ask them the time, they tell you how to build the clock” was coined about these people.
4. The complainer. I know you’ve told this person over and over again that if they want to voice a complaint, they need a solution. But it goes in one ear and out the other. Or they stop complaining to you and start complaining to everyone in the office, thus lowering everyone’s morale. Unfortunately, these are often some of your better performers, so you’re likely stuck with them,
5. The person who needs validation. I’m not talking about one of your newer, less experienced employees. I’m talking about the person who knows exactly what they’re doing, knows exactly what they want to do, but feels the need to run every decision by you. No matter how often you say, “what do you want to do?” they don’t seem to get the hint. They just keep bugging you for an opinion they don’t really care about.
I know there are many, many more things that managers just find irritating. I’d love to hear what drives you crazy. And if any of these people are on your team, maybe you accidently send them this link.