US-Based CEO Shares "Very Dangerous" Red Flag In A Boss: "It's Negative Across All Fronts"

Fineas Tatar, co-CEO of a US-based company, Viva Talent, highlighted a critical red flag in a boss that can have severe consequences for the employees. According to him, a lack of support can make workers feel like they've signed up for a false promise, leading to disengagement and poor performance. He mentioned that chill bosses don't micro-manage, but some are "passive", who create problems.

"Passive leadership, to me, is when leaders avoid hard decisions," he said, as quoted by CNBC. "They delay feedback and naively think that things are going well because they seem busy but aren't truly productive... Having passive leadership disguised [as] autonomy, I think, is very dangerous."

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Last year, a data-based report from HR software provider BambooHR found that bosses have emerged as one of the major factors that are forcing employees to resign. The report, which analysed 1,500 full-time salaried employees in the US, mentioned that almost 50% of employees who quit in the last year stated that they loved their job, but resigned because of their manager.

As per Tatar, with an unsupportive boss, the employees receive little to no constructive feedback, making it difficult for them to grow and improve. These bosses are unavailable or unresponsive, leaving employees to navigate challenges alone. They also set unachievable goals, leading to burnout and frustration.

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Tatar states that the bosses who care for the employees know when to empower them. But bad managers create problems. "That mindset permeates their behaviour across direction, check-ins, guidance, etc," he said.

"It's negative across all fronts," said Tatar. "Because when folks don't feel supported - when they don't feel like they have that guidance - they feel like they signed up for a false promise."

Consequences of Unsupportive Leadership

In such a situation, employees leave due to feeling undervalued and unsupported. Also, the teams become disengaged, leading to decreased productivity.

When the managers are not supportive, employees are hesitant to make decisions without constant approval.

Those who are trapped with an unsupportive boss, it is advised to consider communicating your needs and concerns clearly, seek support from HR or mentors, setting boundaries and prioritising self-care and the most important point is to exploring new opportunities, especially if the situation doesn't improve.

"Get a pulse check on yourself. Like, [on a scale of one to five] 'Where am I today?... Do I still have a strong why for being here? Am I still bought into the mission? How is my personal life? How's my work life?' Then, pick the lowest scores and tackle those problems first," Tatar said.

"Everybody can do that starting tomorrow."