Full Disclosure- the idea for this and some of the material herein is borrowed from James Altucher, whom I quote regularly here at Cowardly Leadership-Up Close and Personal.  This material is from his posting 10 Reasons Your Boss Hates You here

6 Reasons Your Boss is Incompetent

1.  You’re More Qualified

At the local government level, which is the platform I use since it’s the profession I worked in for 30+ years, many people in senior positions are there for the wrong reasons.  Now, without question, the majority of colleagues I worked with at the department head level were smart, dedicated, talented, and creative.  Many of them were game-changers.  But at the level above them are the elected officials and appointed officials.    And just as often, the majority of them are in their positions because:

• a) They were elected- Therefore, they know little about the day-to-day management and leadership challenges facing the employees who make the organization run.  Their sources of information often are (surprise, surprise) their fellow elected colleagues who know just as much (little) about the organization;
• b) They were political appointments- I readily admit there are professional political appointments such as city managers and Police and Fire Chiefs that are mostly excluded from this list.  I’m speaking of the professional political hacks who travel from government to government, staying employed by shirt-tailing the party in power to grab a political patronage job.  In order to keep the job, they merely do everything they are told to do by the person who is in power and hired them;
• c) They were long-standing employees- Employees who rose through the ranks by being excellent yes-men, never raising issues, never pushing boundaries, never desiring to make the organization- the city, the county, the school board- better than it ever has been.

They are rarely more qualified or knowledgeable than you are.  Don’t tell them that.

2.  They are Paranoid

Because of reason #1, your boss is ever-fearful that it will become known that you know more and are more qualified than he or she is.  Paranoia is not an attractive quality.

I had the misfortune to work for two men who are excellent examples of cowardly leaders.  One was so paranoid that, during a meeting in his office, he pounded his desk and loudly reminded me that he had been climbing up the ladder for years, would continue to move up the ladder for years, and that, since I was new, I would always be less qualified than he.

The second was the consummate political appointed hack.  Since I worked in a strong mayor form of government, and since devotion and allegiance to the chief elected officer was paramount and any questions were considered mutinous, he simply replaced me with someone who was much more a yes-man.

In both cases, an employee who was wanting to find new, better, and innovative ways of operation was a threat.

3.  His Boss is Incompetent

This isn’t always true.  In the first example, my boss’s boss was a smart guy and well-respected, including by me.  But politics are politics and my boss’s boss couldn’t change the situation.

In the second example, my boss’s boss was and is nothing but a politician.  Every decision is political, and every decision is based on whether or not it might generate voter support.  Abandoning or ignoring policies that were long-established was, as I was reminded, “at the discretion of the Chief Elected Officer, not you.”   Managing a well-run organization was not the mission.  Getting re-elected was the mission.  And because that was my boss’s boss’s motivation, in order to stay employed, it was my boss’s motivation as well.    As James Altucher says, “like a grandfather who beats his son, his son will beat his grandson.”

4.  You Are Smarter

Chances are you are more focused on the day-to-day management of your organization.  You are likely younger, or almost certainly more up-to-date on trends and best management practices.  You know the strategic planning practices of what makes your profession successful and want to implement those for the good of your employees and the citizens you serve.

Your boss sees and understands this, but being a cowardly leader, rather than embracing and learning from you, he uses you as he deems necessary.  He takes credit for your ideas and knowledge, and manipulates knowledge he doesn’t agree with.  In short, he does whatever he can to ensure his boss and those in power know that it is he who is smart.

5.  He Has Few Friends

If your boss is incompetent and a cowardly leader, he will have few friends.  Others recognize it and don’t want to be around him either.  He will certainly have colleagues and those who communicate with him in order to do their jobs.  But being a yes-man is a lonely profession.

This has nothing to do with being a Leader.  If you are a Real Leader, then you have plenty of friends and professional colleagues.  Those who ask for and accept and implement ideas and advice are going to have lots of colleagues.  Those who use others for their own personal gain will not.

6.  You Are A Professional

You are competent and credible, and have specific skills.  He is a yes-man who also has specific skills.  Those skills are saying “yes” to whatever he is told.

As a professional, you know what is right and wrong and are comfortable recommending difficult decisions.  Although it is difficult, you know that speaking “truth to power” is a necessary part of your job.

His goal is to keep from getting fired.  Since he is a political appointment, he is always scrambling to remain in good graces.  There is no right or wrong, there is only do what he is told to do.  Although the ultimate chief elected officer may not be a dictator, your boss is working in a dictatorship.  He does what he is told, how he is told.  He knows he can easily be replaced.

You are the expert.  He is not.  You know it, he knows it.  He knows you know it.

Believe in Karma.

II-64