Is Your Boss’s Outdated Thinking Ruining Your Career?

I’ve been studying and teaching about the psychology of work for over 40 years, and while times have very much changed, unfortunately, many supervisors have not. They remain stuck in the old “command and control” way of thinking. If your career advancement is tied to a boss who still holds to this outdated mode of thinking, you may very well find yourself stuck in a dead-end job, and may want to consider some alternatives.

Here are some clues that an old-school boss may be holding you, and your career, down.

“You Need to Pay Your Dues.” Historically, the main path to promotion was putting in time: Work long enough, and you earned a promotion. If your boss (or organization) holds to the belief that only people who have a certain amount of tenure in a position deserve promotion, you may want to consider your alternatives. Promotions should be based on an employee's abilities, performance, and potential to advance, not just time served. Cutting-edge organizations and bosses tie raises and promotions to performance and potential, not the years one has been in their current position.

“Spare the Rod.” If your boss is punitive — always on the lookout for employees doing something wrong, and then “bringing the hammer down” — it’s a sign that their old-school thinking is not only making your life miserable, but just not working. The purpose of punishment is to stop undesirable behavior, but it doesn’t encourage better performance or greater productivity. A better way is for a boss to turn the focus from this punitive management style toward encouraging and rewarding desirable, productive work behavior. While punishment has its limited place (e.g., stopping employees from goofing off or taking risky actions around dangerous machinery), positive reinforcement — encouraging and rewarding desirable behavior — is always a better supervisory strategy. Is your boss overly punitive? Time to consider your employment alternatives.

“Money Is the Only Important Motivator.” Sure, money is a powerful motivator, but if it’s the only way your boss rewards people, it’s a sign of “old school” thinking. A good boss thinks about the many ways an employee can be recognized and rewarded, beyond dollars and cents. And the fact is that being flexible, such as by allowing employees with child- or elder-care responsibilities to arrange their work schedules so they can do their jobs and still provide homecare, may be a better motivator than a raise. Old-school bosses may not realize that rewarding people isn’t just about the money (although that is important). Tying good performance to career advancement, and thinking about rewards more broadly (e.g., time off, flexible work schedules, challenging assignments, recognition, etc.) are valid ways to motivate people – and are especially important when the possibility of monetary rewards is limited.

“The Best Person for This Job Is X.” Holding firmly to outdated and erroneous stereotypes and biases is a telling sign that you’ve got a bad boss. I remember talking to one old-school boss who told me, "When it comes to jobs requiring detail, I always hire Asian Americans, because they pay attention to detail.” Not only was this biased and racist, but it suggested this boss didn’t have the motivation (or ability) to know how to identify and hire capable workers, let alone know how to manage them.

“It's My Way or the Highway.” A very capable employee once told me that his boss was always critical of his work, not because of its quality (which was consistently good), but because his boss didn’t like the way he approached the job, nor the procedures he used. His boss would constantly bring the employee into his office to show him “the right way" to do the task. That employee eventually quit, not because he couldn’t do the job, but because he got tired of his supervisor’s constant criticism. A good boss allows capable workers the autonomy to be creative and take personal control of their work.