Monica Torres says research suggests laissez-faire leadership is the most common destructive type of management employees face, and the one they hate the most.
By Monica Torres*
Photo: freestock.com.
Unfortunately for employees, bad bosses come in all kinds of flavours.
There are the tyrannical bullies, the selfish, the sociopaths, the ones who can never admit being wrong.
But out of all the toxic bosses, the ones who make us feel the worst are the ones who ignore us.
Research highlighted by Harvard Business Review has found that the absentee leaders is the most common incompetent leadership type and the most derailing to our self-esteem.
‘Laissez-faire leadership behaviour’ can be destructive
Absentee leaders are ones who may be physically in the office, but their mind is elsewhere.
They may be called leaders but they do not act like ones, avoiding the task of building meaningful connections with their team.
They lack the self-awareness to keep track of organisational changes and their employees’ professional growth.
They are not honest about your job performance, preferring to give empty praise.
“We are doing fine,” their empty platitudes say, while everything is certainly not fine.
Worse, you prompt them to take actions about serious management issues and they never do anything.
Their hands are completely off the wheel and you are left to steer this skidding organisation on your own.
In its analysis of the absentee boss, Harvard Business Review cited a 2010 study that found that “laissez-faire leadership behaviour” was the most common destructive leader employees face.
An absentee boss is characterised by what they do not do.
It is a hands-off approach to leadership where complaints do not get addressed, and achievements do not get recognised.
Being ignored feels worse than bullying
When our bosses give us complete free rein, it may seem freeing at first, but soon it feels alienating to have no clear direction about what you should be doing.
Is anyone even listening to us?
A 2015 survey found that laissez-faire leadership turned out to be the sole predictor of job satisfaction for employees.
Employees in the survey felt worse when they were ignored than when they were bullied.
In fact, the impact of an absentee boss will leave lasting marks on us long after the initial interaction.
Employees with absentee bosses reported a degraded job satisfaction for at least two years.
So bosses everywhere, pay attention.
When you get promoted to a management position, the most important action you can take to improve job satisfaction is to make sure every employee feels heard.
* Monica Torres is a reporter for The Ladders in New York City. She tweets at @MoniFierce.
This article first appeared at www.theladders.com.
