Steve was a department head in a small marketing firm where he supervised two people. His management style consisted of one major theme: emotional blackmail through alternating cycles of intimidation and crying fits.

Steve kept a happy environment in his department by using divisive techniques, such as giving one staff person’s confidential salary information to the other. He would also tell his colleagues that their achievements were made possible by incomprehensible luck.

If a staff member displayed their independent ability or stood up for themselves, Steve would have them fired and even graciously offer to help them find a job. Of course, his generosity would come after he had already contacted friends at other agencies and trashed the staff member’s credibility.*

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Not every boss is a poor manager. There are some who give their staff the guidance to grow, learn the fundamentals of business and build relationships. These are the people that we would give our eye-teeth to work with.

However, there is one thing worse than a bad boss – their legacy. Believe it or not, your time in purgatory may leave an impression of poor management skills that you could take with you.

Why Bad Managers Make Our Lives Miserable
According to Fortune magazine, 40 percent of new managers fail within the first 18 months. The main reason is an inability to build healthy relationships in the workplace. In most of those cases, emotional intelligence – the ability of an individual to deal successfully with other people, to manage one’s self, motivate others, understand one’s own feelings and appropriately respond to the everyday environment – was sorely lacking.

Traits of Good Managers
Teamwork/Praise: Every boss wants to manage someone who makes them look good. But when that person does a great job, they deserve to know about it. A pat on the back shouldn’t be reserved and doled out sparingly to elicit loyalty.

Professionalism: Shadow the right person long enough and they’ll teach you the basics of good posture, grace, and even how to navigate the terrifying world of office politics. The one thing a good manager shouldn’t teach you is how to waste company time being their personal therapist while they go through a mid-life crisis.

Communication: Debbie Fields of Mrs. Field’s Cookies was rumored to have kept fresh baked cookies in her office. Apparently, her company had grown so large, she felt that she had lost intimacy with her staff. By keeping cookies in her office, people regularly dropped by to tell her what was going on in their departments and personal lives.

Good managers listen. They show you appreciation. They also have a genuine interest in your personal growth as a professional.

Incorporate these tips into your daily routine and you’ll be training yourself to be a great manager!

*This is a true story.