The Backlash from Uncaring Bad Bosses

Searching back in history, most people can identify leaders who were both unethical and uncaring. Some were dictators who oppressed their citizens, and some were elected leaders who acted inappropriately. Others were corporate leaders who hid mistakes, inflated earnings, damaged the environment, or told lies to get ahead. Considering the motivation of an unethical, uncaring leader, they must believe that their lying and disregard for others would give them some advantage. But does it?

What is the impact of working for an unethical or uncaring bad boss?

To understand better the impact of this kind of leader, I looked at Zenger Folkman’s database of over 140,000 leaders to identify unethical and uncaring leaders. There were 5,067 leaders that scored in the bottom 10% on the dimensions of being ethical and caring. I also identified 4,461 leaders in the top 10% on the same dimensions.

In the graph below, I compared the overall average of these 60 behaviors to create an index we called overall leadership effectiveness. For example, leaders rated as uncaring and unethical had an overall effectiveness rating at the 6^th percentile, while those at the top, which were very ethical and caring, were at the 95^th percentile

The Impact of Unethical or Uncaring Bad Bosses

Now back to the initial question: Does cheating, lying, or jilting those around you allow a person to get ahead? All direct reports also assessed their willingness to give discretionary effort or their inclination to quiet quit to test this assumption. Discretionary effort is the willingness of direct reports to put 100% of their effort and energy into doing their job, while quiet quitting measures the desire of the direct report to only do as little as possible to keep their job and avoid any extra effort.

As seen in the graph below:

•  Unethical, uncaring leaders had 20% of their direct reports quietly quitting and only 15% willing to give extra effort.
• Those leaders in the top 10% had 70% of their direct reports willing to give 100% effort and only 2% quietly quitting.
•  50% of the direct reports working for the unethical, uncaring leader were thinking about quitting, while only 12% were considering leaving the ethical, caring leader.
• Direct reports working for an unethical, uncaring leader were also significantly less confident they would achieve their goals.

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Clearly, there is very little advantage to being an unethical, uncaring leader in terms of their perceived leadership effectiveness or the engagement and motivation of their direct reports.

So, what does the unethical, uncaring bad boss do to be successful?

The data presented some interesting trends.

1. Willing to take more risks. When things were not working well, they were more inclined to take risks and “bet the ranch” to succeed. Unfortunately, there is a long history of unethical, uncaring leaders taking unreasonable risks and failing.
2. Tries hard to market their ideas and convince others. Most people know when someone is trying hard to sell them on an idea or approach. Desperate unethical, uncaring leaders have no problem manipulating others to help or support them.
3. Insists on significant changes. When a person is failing, they can easily believe that the problem is not them but rather the organization that needs to change.
4. Focuses on achieving goals regardless of the cost. Single-mindedly focusing only on achieving a goal with no concern for whether or not it is the right goal or if the goal is negatively impacting other people or groups. Often these leaders care more about how accomplishing the goal will benefit them personally rather than the organization.
5. Constantly tries new approaches or unproven ideas. Rather than just accomplishing the work, these leaders are trying to find an easier way to get their job done.

What unethical or uncaring bad bosses do to motivate high performance

With unengaged direct reports and little discretionary effort, the unethical, uncaring bad boss often has to resort to the last two motivational techniques they believe will work: fear and intimidation.

These techniques are the logical next step to ensure achieved results. However, giving an electric shock to rats does not increase activity but rather causes them to freeze. Similarly, punishment to humans causes them to either avoid the punishment (quit or transfer) or punish the person giving the punishment (work slower, resist the extra effort, only do what is absolutely required).

Because these leaders lack the support and motivation of their direct reports and peers, they resort to demanding, pushing, and authoritarian behaviors. They must push rather than pull to accomplish objectives. One of the lowest-rated skills for these leaders is the ability to inspire and motivate others.

Most leaders who are unethical and uncaring don’t begin with a goal to be that kind of leader. Instead, they have some inconsistent behavior, are a poor role model, have low concern for others and eventually fall into this negative approach to leadership. These are bad habits that make them ineffective leaders. However, leaders can change and improve. The path to improvement starts with good accurate feedback from others, followed by working with a coach to change. Our research has shown that 60% of leaders with these fatal flaws can change.

Joe Folkman, President of Zenger Folkman
(This article first appeared on Forbes.com)

Learn more about ZENGER FOLKMAN’s approach to leadership development.

Other Research on Bad Bosses

• ARTICLE: Quiet Quitting is about Bad Bosses, Not Bad Employees 
• PODCAST: The Trickle-Down Effect of Good and Bad Leadership 
• PODCAST: Episode 94: Are you Sure Your Not a Bad Boss?