Leadership In the Mines

I once had a boss who told me that our company’s leadership philosophy was called “Mushroom Management.”

“Mushroom management?” I asked, confused. I had not heard about it in any of the corporate training classes.

“Yeah, it’s pretty simple,” he said. “This is how we treat people: keep ‘em in the dark, feed ‘em a load of  crap, and can a bunch of ‘em every now and then.” He broke out into a roaring fit of laughter as I slunk down in my chair.

Good Boss, Bad Boss

I think we can safely say that “boss” and “leader” are not necessarily interchangeable terms these days.  Just because someone has been promoted to a position of greater responsibility does not mean that they have amassed the competence or people-smarts to be effective in that role. In fact, a lousy boss can make a worker’s life miserable.

Bob Sutton, a professor of psychology at Stanford, has made a career out of calling out bad bosses. He is the author of the best-selling book, Good Boss, Bad Boss, and also has a Blog, Work Matters, where he doles out advice and research on boss behavior.

Sutton glibly pronounces an ominous tag line: people don’t quit organizations, they quit bad bosses. The impact managers have on the workplace is huge.

So what does a good boss look like? Sutton’s definition is very simple: He or she promotes both performance and humanity, and strikes a healthy balance between the two. Great leaders and bosses, he says, are both competent and benevolent.

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Photo by Firesea, used with permission.