Yahoo Finance There are two kinds of horrible bosses: study
As Michael Scott of “The Office” once said:
“People used to say ‘boss’ when they were describing something that was really cool.”
“… but now boss is just slang for jerk in charge.”
While the manager of the fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin would rarely be described as a jerk, at best he lacked business savvy and was HR’s worst nightmare.
And according to new research, there are two forms of bad bosses – they’re either dysfunctional, like Michael Scott, or they’re the kind of jerk he was describing.
The paper, which was published in Research in Occupational Stress and Wellbeing, is working to establish a classification for system for poor workplace leaders and their distinct behaviours, because both “dark” and “dysfunctional” bosses can cause a “great deal of stress to employees.”
“A person’s direct supervisor is a lens through which they view their work experience,” Researcher Seth Spain, a professor of organizational behaviour at Binghamton University, said in a press release.
“We think, in particular, that a boss can be an incredibly substantial source of stress for people who work for them,” said Spain.
Spain said dysfunctional bosses aren’t malicious, but cause issues because of their personal failings.
“They don’t want to hurt you,” Spain said in a press release.
“Through lack of skill, or other personality defects – they’re just not very good at their job.”
On the other hand, dark bosses have “destructive behaviours” and hurt others to climb up the workplace totem pole.
The researchers said they have a “dark triad” of personality traits, including: Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy.
“(These are) people who enjoy the pain and suffering of others – they’re going to be mean, abusive and harassing in daily life,” said Spain.
Although, Spain said that all bosses display these behaviours at some level.
Meaning, these archetypes are on the opposite sides of a spectrum, rather than black-and-white.
But unfortunately, that means some workers may have the poor fortune of working for a boss who can sometimes be a disaster like Michael Scott, but also be cruel like Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons.”
