Is there anything worse than a boss who makes everything about themselves? The boss who talks about how difficult their job is? Or how the decisions they make are ultra important and cannot be delegated? And seemingly never decided on time either.. It can be extremely frustrating to serve under this person.

Yet, as managers rise through their organizations, they tend to gain some confidence. Perhaps a little self importance. All of a sudden, before you know it, you might resemble that person whom you promised you would never emulate.

We can all be a bit hypocritical. Like any bad habit, it builds slowly. Bosses are humans too. It’s understandable to want sympathy for the difficulty of the job, the challenges in communication, compensation, personal feelings, etc.

But you gotta stay above it. Seriously. You’re the leader. If you’re…

• Venting during 1x1s about other team members
• Consistently passing off administrative work or other menial responsibilities
• Complaining about compensation or the faux humility of the pay cut you took to come there
• Using “I” and “my” pronouns in reference to your team’s work
• Taking personal days without context or coverage, often on Fridays
• Always responding to questions with a question. Or asking the same questions repeatedly. Or asking your report to repeat themselves because you’re not listening
• Telling team members to only bring you solutions
• Referencing important conversations with clients or industry peers with little knowledge of internal product or process
• Asking for feedback and challenging the validity of the feedback upon receipt

…maybe you’re that man(ager) splaining caricature. And those are only 10 examples!

You’ve got to put in the time too. Perhaps don’t ask team members to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself? Every manager that makes your problems pale in comparison to theirs, the smaller you’ll feel.

Hopefully you’re not yet guilty of the above transgressions. Check yourself and be aware…before you manage long enough to become the villain!