What are the signs of an insecure Boss?
People often say employees don’t leave their companies; they leave their bosses. There could be many reasons for not having a good equation with your boss. One of them could be that you have an insecure boss or team leader or CEO for that matter of fact. The question is how do you identify an insecure leader? Are there any signs of an insecure boss? To help you identify if your boss is insecure or someone else in your team is or if you are one, here’s a list of the signs of an insecure boss.
Signs of an Insecure Boss
Narcissist
Though highly misunderstood as a concept, narcissism could be one of the most distinguished traits or characteristics of an insecure leader. He regards himself with very high standards and considers others not at par with him. Such managers often turn out to be difficult bosses to work with.
Dependent on others
An insecure person is often dependent on others for his state of mind. He gets easily influenced by the actions or inactions of his peers and team. His mood would heavily depend on how others around him are treating him, especially his direct reports
Trust deficit
It is one of the most obvious signs of an insecure boss – he wouldn’t really trust others easily. In most cases, he wouldn’t trust anyone except a very small coterie of people. He enters any place with a preconceived notion that not all can be trusted or that everyone is competent. He would constantly be looking for that small bunch of colleagues he could trust and then delegate all important jobs to them only discarding the abilities and talents of all others in his team or around him
Lacks empathy
Related to the above point, since an insecure manager doesn’t trust people, he lacks empathy for them. You could also say that since he is not able to empathize with others, as a result of this he doesn’t even trust others
Transactional relationship
You will often notice that as one of the signs of an insecure boss. He or she would share a very transactional relationship with others around him. He wouldn’t open up or appreciate others opening up with him. He would company of those who can be of benefit to him and limit his interactions to the time he sees others of value
Micromanager
One of the most prominent signs of an insecure boss is that they would mostly be micro managers. Since they don’t trust others to do the right things or things rightly, they tend to interfere in every minute aspect of the work to ensure that everything is as per their requirements or whims and fancies
Seeks frequent updates
Since an insecure boss is often a micromanager, he tends to seek very frequent updates. Mind you, there is absolutely no harm in asking for details, in fact, one should. However, asking for frequent updates – say weekly updates followed by monthly meetings followed by quarterly reviews, etc are just signs of an insecure manager. Essentially, he doesn’t trust you enough and wants to be in the know of every action you are taking
Feels entitled
Since such people feel insecure from within, they often pretend to and feel entitled as compared to others. An insecure manager would often not skip any opportunity to prove how entitled he or she is as compared to the rest of his team
Humiliates or bullies publicly
There are many reasons why a person bullies others. One of them is their own insecurity. It isn’t any different at workplaces. An insecure person would not shy away from humiliating or bullying his team or specific members in public. In fact, in some cases, they derive pleasure from the humiliation of others. It is their way of making themselves feel special when they can bully others. An insecure manager essentially derives his sense of confidence when they successfully put others down
Not open to criticism
Since an insecure person typically regards very highly of himself, he doesn’t really feel that he could go wrong. Worse than that is that, he is not open to criticism or any feedback. Though he would pretend to be open to feedback, he is not. In fact, it hurts him when anyone especially his team gives him honest feedback. It would make him feel exposed and vulnerable if he accepts criticism or feedback and that in turn will make him ever more insecure. Hence, though unconsciously, in most cases, insecure managers close themselves to feedback early on in their lives
No respect for other’s time
He will set up meetings and then cancel them last minute or re-schedule them or worse arrive late at most meetings. This tendency to not respect others’ time comes from the feeling of entitlement they enjoy in their own head. For them, their time is equally important but because they don’t feel fulfilled within, they often make themselves feel entitled at the cost of other’s convenience or comfort. One of the ways is by not respecting the time of others and often arriving late or setting up or re-scheduling meetings at the last minute being oblivious to the discomfort caused to others
Though there could be many more signs, the above list is just a compilation of signs of an insecure boss that I could think of. You may want to observe and identify if you have such a person in your team or company or if you are an insecure leader yourself. What you do about it is a different issue; however, identifying yourself and accepting it could be a good beginning.