David B. Grinberg

7 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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Memo to CEOs: Fire 'Monster Managers' Now!

Memo to CEOs: Fire 'Monster Managers' Now!

Your Aufl
BossAttention CEOs in corporate America and around the world: whether you know it or not, there are “monster managers” lurking within the confines of your company.

These mid-level managers and front-line supervisors can turn a productive workplace into a cesspool. However, you might not know it because monster managers aren’t always easy to spot from the C-Suite.

There are three important reasons why executive leadership and management should fire monster managers (as I call them):

1) Lost Productivity
2) Legal Liability
3) Bad PR & Brand Image

Put simply, monster managers not only poison the work environment but also cost companies countless dollars in lost productivity. These unsavory characters can make an employee’s work-life miserable, resulting in less engagement, lower job satisfaction, plummeting morale and increased absenteeism – all of which are detrimental to the performance of any organization.

Moreover, monster managers can wreak legal havoc for a company, cause bad publicity and taint the important brand image. This usually occurs when brave workers who are victimized by brutish bosses publicly “blow the whistle” because they just can’t take the abuse anymore. But this doesn’t occur often enough.

Usually, the targeted workers suffer in silence.

That’s why executive leadership and management need to play a greater role in identifying and banishing these monster managers from the workplace.

Derailing Productivity

While it’s true that some monster managers make the proverbial trains run on time , they also prevent the team from doing its best work by derailing employee productivity through fear tactics and abusive behavior.

Some targeted employees might be so intimated and afraid that they hide in restroom stalls or dive under their desk when the monster manager is lurking nearby.

Although most savvy companies foster positive work environments on a macro level, it’s likely that at least a few mid-level monster managers are causing big trouble at the micro level. That is, behind the scenes and without the knowledge of the C-Suite.

But what defines a monster manager?

They can often be described as malicious, vicious, insidious, toxic or draconian in their actions toward targeted employees (among other choice words).

Most monster managers fall under two broad categories: bullies and bigots.

e7845fc8.jpgThe Bullies

Bullying bosses abuse their management authority by abusing their employees. They isolate staff, then divide and conquer by targeting certain workers for management abuse and others for favoritism. The bullying is always based on non-job related superficial factors.

Monster managers might bully staff with an abundance of malice under the guise of micromanagement. They use multiple fear tactics, including – but not limited to – the following:

  • Intimidating employees with frequent loud verbal outbursts ridden with expletives and crude physical gestures.
  • Humiliating victims by demeaning them during staff meetings or in the halls in front of co-workers.
  • Clock watching and obsessing over minor infractions in time and attendance, rather than focusing on bottom-line results.
  • Constantly looking over their target’s shoulders, literally and figuratively, for the smallest mistake or excuse to castigate them.
  • Disciplining staff unnecessarily based on irrational reasoning for minor mistakes -- or lambasting employees for no legitimate reason at all.
  • Playing “mind games” by consistently contacting (stalking) workers after hours, on weekends, holidays, vacations, sick days, etc.
  • Dumping asinine assignments and laborious administrative tasks on senior employees when lower level staff should be handling it.

Such shoddy management maneuvers eviscerate any semblance of employee motivation, job satisfaction and loyalty to the company.

Monster managers make the workplace a dangerous place for their victims and co-workers, resulting in lower overall performance by individuals and the team – which negatively impacts a company’s bottom-line results.

The Bigots

Some monster managers thrive on harassment and discrimination. Bigoted managers may harbor racist, sexist, ageist or homophobic views which manifest within the office setting.

They target innocent and hard working employees for unlawful reasons based on non-job related factors such as: race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy, etc.

Monster managers might sexually harass female or male employees, both verbally and physically. This can include young vulnerable workers on their first jobs who are unaware of their employment rights and open to exploitation.

If all that weren’t bad enough, monster managers often resort to knee-jerk reactions via retaliation against targeted victims who are brave enough to speak out or exercise their legal rights.

Monster managers usually favor, mentor and promote only selected staff based on frivolous or meritless reasons (such as, they look and act like the manager or constantly “kiss up” to them).

Even in a diverse workplace, some bigoted managers might use racial, ethnic and sexist slurs to harass employees behind closed doors. Employees who are subjected to such discriminatory tactics often dread going to work and are prevented by the monster manager from doing their best work for the company.

Wreaking Havoc & Fear Mongering

All of aforementioned unprofessional, unlawful or unethical conduct by monster managers is obviously not conducive to a positive and productive work environment. A healthy workplace is one in which all employees can reach their full potential by harnessing their unique talents and abilities.

In essence, monster managers hurt the bottom-line by wreaking havoc and fear mongering in the workplace under false pretense. The result is an unhappy job environment with panic-stricken staff doing substandard work.

That’s why CEOs and the C-Suite need to ensure that monster managers are identified and permanently ousted from the workplace.

The only thing these killers of productivity deserve is a pink slip. That’s also why employees need to do more “whistle blowing” and less cowering to management abuse.

What do YOU think about monster managers?

* All views and opinions are those of the author only.

________________________________________________________________________________________

David B. Grinberg is an independent writer and strategic communications advisor based in Washington, DC. He has over 20 years of work experience, including the White House, U.S. Congress, federal government agencies, national news media, and elsewhere. Follow David on beBee, Twitter and Medium


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Comments

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #16

#96
My thoughts and prayers are with you, your son and family, Stephan. I hope he has a quick recovery.

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #15

Thanks for the good advice, stephan metral \ud83d\udc1d Innovative Brand Ambassador. I really like your quip about referrals being for realtors, that's a good one. Please feel free to message me directly to follow up. And thanks again for all of your important insights and words of wisdom about toxic bosses or "monster managers" (as I call them). I wish you a wonderful weekend, kind sir!

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #14

#90
stephan metral \ud83d\udc1d Innovative Brand Ambassador Thanks so much for shining more light on this important issue. You make some excellent points and provide astute analysis, for which I'm grateful. Also, regarding "ghost" feel free to refer anyone to me who needs a ghostwriter. Again, many thanks. The buzz is growing louder thanks to super bees like you!

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #13

Many thanks for your valuable feedback stephan metral \ud83d\udc1d Innovative Brand Ambassador, which I really appreciate. I've actually fought two "monster managers" in my 20+ year career. One was mid-level. The other was senior level. First, you need to be a high value employee to the organization in order to ultimately emerge victorious. Second, you need to have some leverage. I was a media spokesman back then, for example, and had been successfully quoted hundreds of times "on-the-record" (by name) for the organization. The C-Suite knew I was close to many reporters at major media outlets. Thus, I had leverage in that regard. I made sure to reminded executive leadership of my First Amendment free speech rights, as no company wants to their internal "dirty laundry" aired out in public. Although I did lose some battles along the way -- including being placed on short-term administrative leave for a "cooling off" period -- I ultimately won the wars. Both monster managers were forced out in the end, while I remained on the job (and, FYI, I'm still with the same company today). Word to the wise: before engaging in battle, the victim should be mindful that insidious managers will abuse their authority by laying surreptitious traps to "frame" the victim. Also, it's usually a prolonged and very stressful process to get rid of the toxic beast. But, as they say, all's well that ends well. I'm lucky it ended well for me.

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #12

Many thanks for your valuable feedback stephan metral \ud83d\udc1d Innovative Brand Ambassador, which I really appreciate. I've actually fought two "monster managers" in my career. First, you need to be very high value employee to the organization to ultimately emerge victorious. I was a media spokesman at the time and quoted hundreds of times on-the-record for the organization. The C-Suite knew I was very close to many reporters, thus I had some leverage in that sense because they didn't want this "news" to get out. Yes, I lost a few battles along the way, but in the end both monster managers were forced out -- while I remained on the job. Perhaps I'll do some play-by-play storytelling about my specific battles along the way. I would offer this piece advice: once the monster managers targets you, be very careful not to fall into their insidious traps. That only provides ammunition for the toxic beast to use against you.

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #11

#65
You're too kind, Lisa Gallagher many thanks! I really appreciate your gracious support and look forward to working with you as a fellow ambassador to promote this wonderful site. Also, you and others might also like my new follow-up post on "monster managers" https://www.bebee.com/producer/@dbgrinberg/how-to-engage-or-elude-monster-managers Please let me know what you think?

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #10

#65
You're too kind, Lisa Gallagher, many thanks! I really appreciate your gracious support and look forward to working with you as a fellow ambassador to promote this wonderful site.

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #9

#62
Gerald Hecht Per your comment, kind sir, it's true that SOME "monster managers are so far above us in the food chain that it doesn't matter." However, others are front-line supervisors and mid-level managers who are hurting bottom-line productivity and profits -- which is what the C-Suite ultimately cares about most for Wall Street, shareholders, and corporate bad image. A company can't but a price tag on broad negative media coverage, which is why they all spend so much on PR.

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #8

Many thanks for sharing your important insights, which are always most appreciated! Have a superb Sunday! Gerald Hecht

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #7

Many thanks for sharing your important insights Jan Barbosa. I also just posted this on Medium.com and tweeted (FYI) https://medium.com/@DBGrinberg/memo-to-ceos-fire-monster-managers-now-4aff0473f810#.1pugx5drr

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #6

Many thanks for your kind words and valuable feedback, which is always very much appreciated! Loribeth Pierson. You all make excellent comments, as usual. I've had three "monster managers" over the course of my career. I couldn't due anything about the first one because I was a political appointee back then and civil service rules didn't apply. However, I fought the other two horrible bosses and ultimately prevailed -- as they were forced out by senior executive leadership, while I stayed. But each was a long battle with ups and downs. While it felt good to stand my ground and fight for my legal rights, it was nonetheless a very stressful and frustrating process. Those experiences taught me to really appreciate the good managers even more and learn from their positive examples in how to treat and respect employees.

Sarah Elkins

7 years ago #5

This has been and continues to be relevant across every industry, but I've seen the worst of it in the public sector. If only those bosses would see themselves in this article and actually act to on it.

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #4

I appreciate all of your excellent comments on this topic, you all raise very good points. Thanks also for the shares, tweets ans retweets: Erroll -EL- Warner Mohammed A. Jawad

Qamar Ali Khan

7 years ago #3

Outstanding post David Grinberg! Very valuable information!

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #2

Many thanks for your exemplary comments, which are most appreciated Laurent BOSCHERINI. Thanks also for any share, tweets, etc. You guys rock!

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #1

FYI Javier C\u00e1mara Rica

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