Don't Be That Boss: How Great Communicators Get the Most Out of Their Employees and Their Careers

Introduction

Chad would be better off now if he had that nighttime mouth guard with him. The piece of molded blue plastic that stops him from grinding his teeth while sleeping might knock out some of this pain. Without it, he clenched and unclenched his jaw with growing pressure. He sat at his desk behind a closed door, slowly turning the pages in his year's 360 degree review. His face burned. The vise around his head tightened as he read leadership scores and comments from the employees he managed.

Unfortunately for Chad, however, his colleagues had all displayed a damning consistency in their anonymous assessment of his performance:

• "Poor communicator"

• "Lack of clear strategic direction"

• "Leaves us in the dark"

• "Not enough give-and-take, if any"

• "Inconsistent in approach"

Then he turned to the real heart-stopper. His boss agreed in very similar vocabulary that his team was not performing up to goal and that he was responsible.

• "At times, Chad's team lacks direction."

• "Chad struggles with low morale."

• "Higher than normal turnover needs to be addressed."

Overall, it wasn't a career-ending review; but it wasn't going to help him, either. He was safe from the grim reaper, but he definitely was not moving forward at the company—at least not based on this document. There would be little or no performance bonus at the end of the year after this report went into the file. And it would knock Chad's promotion train off the tracks for a good 12 to 24 months, if not longer.

Chad couldn't stop gnashing ...