115. Common Things Bad Bosses Say

Transcript – Episode 115: Common Things Bad Bosses Say

Joe:
Hey there, BossHeroes. I’m taking a little break from the show this summer, but fear not because we’ve got a whole schedule of content you’ve not heard before. While I recharge my batteries, we’ve decided to share the episodes of a short but popular YouTube series I did a few years ago on how bosses cultivate commitment in the workplace. So, every other Sunday through the end of the summer, you’ll hear these quick funny lessons on how to inspire teams, get results, and be a boss that people don’t hate. You’ll even get to hear the old rock theme music we used and some recording bloopers at the end. Enjoy and thanks for all that you do to care for so many.

Joe:
If you’ve been in the workforce for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard a boss say something to an employee that just made you cringe. Maybe it was an inappropriate remark or an off-color joke or something to belittle or demean the employee. Sadly, even smart bosses do dumb things from time to time. In fact, there are a couple of common boss phrases that we need to eliminate from our repertoire because they do harm the very moment they leave your lips. I’ll tell you about three of these and what to say instead, in about 18 seconds from right now,

Joe:
If you want more of me and come on, who doesn’t, head over to joemull.com and subscribe to my twice-monthly BossBetter Email for managers just like you. You’ll get these videos and more just as soon as they are released.

Joe:
Okay, here are three phrases we need to eliminate from the boss database as soon as possible.

Joe:
Number one, “You should know better.”

Joe:
This shows up when a boss is frustrated that an employee did something that demonstrates a lack of knowledge, or when they aren’t picking things up quickly enough, it’s condescending and demeaning. It sounds like something you’d say to a seven-year-old I should know. I have a seven-year-old and I have said this to him. If you sound like you’re talking to a seven-year-old, when you are talking to people you supervise, you’re doing it wrong. So, what should you say when someone keeps making the same mistake over and over or demonstrates that they still haven’t absorbed something you believe they should know by now, instead of saying, you should know better try this.

Joe:
“We’ve gone over this a couple of times, including most recently at X, yet I can see you’re still struggling. How do we fix this?”

Joe:
Alright, now on to bad boss phrase number two, drum roll, please. “Everyone is replaceable.”

Joe:
Have you ever had that one thrown at you by a supervisor? I have. And let me tell you, only a fool lets this dumpster fire of an expression be said out loud. “Everyone is replaceable.” Seems to show up when a boss wants to remind an employee that they aren’t needed or that they aren’t as special as they think they are. If you’ve ever wanted to knock someone down a few pegs, this club seems to be the best one in the boss bag to take that tee shot. And let me tell you, if you swing that club, you are shooting yourself in the foot. To mix my metaphors.

Joe:
There are piles, towers, I mean mountains of evidence that tell us that perhaps the number one factor in an employee’s commitment level at work is the belief that their work matters. That they are valued, that their boss, their company, their team, and the customer genuinely needs them and the work that they do, everyone is replaceable, is the opposite of this. As soon as it’s said, it wipes away the very foundation of commitment. It neuters devotion and effort and loyalty and all the stuff we desperately spend years nurturing in the workplace. Can we have a virtual high-five and swear to never use this one again? Right here!

Joe:
Instead, say this. “If this role is no longer the right fit for you, we’ll be sad to see you go and it’ll be hard to find someone to fill your shoes, but we’ll figure it out.”

Joe:
Last but not least, our third harmful boss phrase is a word — two, actually, “we or I” when it didn’t involve you.

Joe:
When I ask frontline staff across nearly every industry what their biggest complaint is about their boss, the number one answer is taking credit for my work. This is a plague in workplaces everywhere, and you think your employees don’t see or don’t know, but trust me, they do. They do every time. When bosses stand in front of organizational leadership and act as if the great results produced by their team are primarily a product of their effort, talent, and skill as a leader, it demoralizes employees. The members of your team believe that the only way they get raises or get ahead or get job security is when senior leaders above you start to see them as an invaluable contributor. That’s why taking credit for results you didn’t create is such a violation. It robs employees of the primary way they can rise above their station.

Joe:
But you know what? It doesn’t stop there. Believe it or not, even if you don’t explicitly take credit for an employee’s work, they will perceive that you did if you failed to give credit to those who were most responsible for success. If you don’t speak up and give credit where credit is due, it’s a sin of omission and it creates drama.

Joe:
So, here’s a tip. Take advantage of every chance you get to say the following to others in power where you work. Thanks. And I should tell you that the credit really goes to name and name who were absolutely invaluable. We couldn’t have done this without them.

Joe:
So, there you have it. Let’s retire those three boss phrases so they never show up in workplaces again. We can get off to a great start together if you click that little share button below and push this video out to others in your network. But I don’t have to tell you that.”You should know better!”

Joe:
Thanks for watching. See you next time.

Outtake 1:
We gotta go back. I flubbed back. Back it up. Get up, back it up. Back it in. Let me begin. I came to win. Hey, I don’t remember what I had for lunch, but nineties rap lyrics.

Outtake 2:
Looks like tap dance. Oh God, it’s not.

Outtake 3:
I’m calling the bullpen on the teleprompter gal. We’re gonna need a relief.

Outtake 4:
Alright, I know. Stop.

Joe (Keynote Ad):
Are you planning a meeting or event? Why not have me join you as your keynote speaker? Loyalty is employer Loyalty and humanity. It’s a commitment to creating a more humane employee experience because that’s what triggers commitment at work. I’ll give the leaders in your company a clear vocabulary and framework to turn your organization into a destination workplace.

Joe (Clip from Live Keynote):
What you see in front of you is the Employalty scorecard. Every single person in every single job and every single company on Earth is walking around with a kind of internal psychological scorecard. And if you can engineer these experiences for the people in your organization and they can check most, if not all of the boxes on this scorecard, you create an extraordinary competitive advantage for your organization and team. And we’re definitely gonna talk about why so many people are changing jobs. Okay, I’m gonna run over to this side of the room now. This is almost as long as a walk from the hotel.

Joe (Clip from Live Keynote):
Why are people switching? What is something we haven’t heard yet? Organization. Don’t say someone’s name. That’s not nice.

Joe (Clip from Live Keynote):
I heard organization. What else? Feeling valued. Management. But we had dozens of answers for “why are people switching?” But I would argue there’s only one. I would argue that every answer you just gave rolls up to a bigger idea. And that bigger idea is this. People are switching to improve their quality of life.

Joe (Clip from Live Keynote):
When we create a workplace that stops treating people like a commodity and starts treating them as a fully formed human being, you don’t just crack the code of commitment, you make a massive difference across society.

Joe (Keynote Ad):
When I arrive on site as your speaker, I have two jobs. Help the people in the audience with the real-world challenges they face every day and do it in a way that is utterly captivating. If you’d like more information, a quote or to check date availability, just email hello@joemull.com. That’s hello@joemull.com.