Surviving Poor Management 17: When You’re the Problem

This continues our series on how to survive poor management at work and grow

Brad worked for a company that he felt suffered from poor management. He frequently listed all the  reasons that he did not appreciate upper management. His continual criticisms and negativity affected co-workers and reduced morale. Imagine his surprise and embarrassment when his research into poor management highlighted several traits that Brad possessed. He began  changing his attitude, behavior, and management skills. It took years, but Brad transformed poor management skills into good management skills.

You May Be the Poor Manager

As you read the previous posts in this series, you may have recognized that you possess some of the traits of a poor manager outlined in the articles. We recognize that no one perfects management. Even the best managers make mistakes.

You may use several methods to explore your flaws:

• Read the articles listed in previous blogs and compare your behavior to the articles
• Make a list of traits outlined in the articles and conduct your own 360 evaluation by asking others to give you feedback
  • Co-workers or peers
  • Subordinates
  • Supervisors and managers
  • Clients or vendors

How Can You Fix your Own Poor Management

We affirm that everyone may change, at any age. Your mistakes today do not define your mistakes tomorrow. As Santana said “He that does not learn from his past is doomed to repeat it.” You may learn from your mistakes. You may change.

Several excellent researchers can teach you how to change to fix your poor management. We found the following books very helpful:

• The Influencer and Change Anything by the authors at VitalSmarts
• Leadership and the Art of Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute
• Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey
• True North by Bill George

We also recommend Benjamin Franklin’s method of implementing a characteristic. He recounted how he focused on a trait for a week at a time. He found a week’s effort improved the virtue within his life. You may do the same.

Friday we summarize how to survive poor management at work and still grow your career

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.