7 signs of a scary monster boss: A change management perspective

Haunted houses, roller coasters, extreme sports — all scary things that create an adrenaline rush that’s fun. Being scared isn’t always fun, though, especially when it comes to managing organizational change in the workplace.

Have you thought lately about how you make your employees feel? You don’t want them to say, “My boss is scary.” The adrenaline rush you might be giving them with your actions may not be so fun, and it could seriously hinder your change management efforts.

Here are some signs of a scary monster boss that can derail successful change management:

1. They never listen to employees:Effective change management relies heavily on communication. Take the time to ask open-ended questions to your team to understand what’s really happening during the change process. Don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions about the impact of organizational change on employee’s specific roles. Understanding the truth helps to ensure your strategies for change are on track.
2. They threaten employees: Communicating clearly about gaps in performance during change initiatives is important, but doing so in a threatening tone is not the way to go. Remember that it is much better to improve performance through effective leadership and change management approaches. Retaining employees is preferable to losing them, especially during periods of organizational transformation.
3. They only manage up, not down:During operational change management, organizational leaders must always look both directions. They are responsible for making their teams better and ensuring they’re prepared for change. This involves proper training and stakeholder engagement at all levels of change management.
4. They ask employees a zillion questions about every single project or decision: While it’s important to stay informed about change progress, leaders need to work in the big picture and trust employees to do their jobs. If there is a training issue regarding change management, that’s another problem, but smart leaders set people free to do their work in their own way.
5. They don’t communicate a clear vision: Expecting others to execute and be accountable, but not being clear about the change management process is problematic. A key element of change management is communicating a clear vision for the future state, which is essential for change readiness.
6. They do things that their staff should be doing without consulting them first: Good leaders should be delegating, not executing every single task. This is especially true in corporate change management, where employee engagement and ownership are crucial for change adoption and successful change implementation.
7. They take themselves too seriously: We are all human, even at work. Change is often stressful, so leading with a positive attitude creates a better environment for change and is an essential part of leading change management.

Leadership impact on effective change management

When leaders do these scary things, they aren’t leading or necessarily even managing people well. Employees tend to disengage under stress. This leads to a whole host of problems and negatively impacts operating at peak performance. This can severely impact your change management efforts and overall organizational performance.

An effective leader needs to ensure that employees are comfortable and motivated in their roles and given clear responsibilities and measurements, especially during times of change. While leaders don’t need to be the fairy godmothers of the organization, they shouldn’t be the scary villains either. Instead, smart leaders function as change champions who guide their teams through the change management process with clarity and support.

Successful change management requires a combination of strong leadership skills and specific change management competencies. By avoiding “scary boss” behaviors, leaders who embrace change management best practices will effectively guide their teams through organizational change. This includes providing clear communication, training where needed and open feedback policies and focusing on employee engagement throughout the change process.

Keys to successful and less scary change management

To effectively manage change, leaders should focus on developing a comprehensive change management plan incorporating proven change management principles. This involves utilizing various change management tools and models to guide the process. Some key elements of change management principles include:

• Developing a clear change management methodology.
• Enhancing change management skills across the organization.
• Implementing effective change management techniques.
• Adopting the best change management practices.
• Fostering change management competency at all levels.

How Wipfli LLP can help

Wipfli’s leadership development programs help leaders at every level cultivate a leadership mindset that empowers others to thrive. Learn more about how we help clients with people, process and strategy on our organizational performance consulting web page.

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