I was once asked to speak about stress management to municipal workers from 11 counties at an annual leadership luncheon. During a conversation with the event organizer, I wanted more specifics, so I asked him to elaborate on the type of stress he meant.

“Not critical incident stress management. We would like you to talk about stress in the workplace. You know, the type of stress that comes from…”

There was a lengthy pause. I sensed he was hesitant to say what he wanted to, so I thought I would help him out.

“Bad bosses?”

“Exactly,” he confirmed.

A couple of months later, I stood before a room of 120 administrative officers, clerks, and department heads to deliver a 45-minute presentation titled “Stress Management: Preventing and Avoiding Mental and Physical Burnout.”

I began by discussing common sources of workplace stress:

  • Low salaries
  • Excessive workloads
  • Lack of social support
  • Work that is not engaging or challenging
  • Inequality in responsibilities
  • Few opportunities for growth or advancement

I asked if anyone in the room wanted to add anything to the list. One municipal government employee with 35 years in the books raised his hand. When I called on him, he quickly blurted out, “Poor leadership, organizational dysfunction, no positive feedback, lack of direction, drama, feeling underappreciated, and lack of fairness.”

“Wow, did you rehearse that?” I asked.

Many of the other attendees laughed.

“No,” he replied, “but I’ve lived it for 35 years.”

I asked whether any of the other audience members felt the same way, and more than 90% of the attendees raised their hands.

Unfortunately, bad bosses or poor management create toxic cultures, which are common in the workplace. This occurs everywhere, even in the fire service, which has often been referred to as the greatest job on Earth.

Most polls in America rank firefighting among the top professions for career satisfaction. This is why many in that profession find it interesting that, in recent years, there appears to be a growing number of firefighters who seem bitter, frustrated, and sometimes disgruntled, to the point that they begin counting down the days to retirement many months, and sometimes years, before they are eligible.

I spoke with members of one fire department who estimated that 15% of their members, most of their veteran core, left the job before they originally intended. One member told me their team was consumed with drama. He said many of his co-workers regularly made statements such as, “I don’t care anymore” and “I give up.”

He also made a point of stressing that, in his opinion, the brotherhood was dead.

As I dug deeper into this with him, it became abundantly clear that his frustration had little to do with a “lack of brotherhood” and everything to do with poor leadership.

This individual eventually admitted to me that he agreed firefighting was the greatest job on Earth, but at the same time, he was still counting down the days until he could leave what he described as a “toxic, soul-killing environment.”

During our group discussion, it became abundantly clear that most members of that organization loved their jobs but attributed their discontent to poor leadership and management.

Let that sink in for a moment.

They love the job but want to leave it.

My conversation with these firefighters reminded me that people leave managers, not companies. In fact, researchers at Gallup, Inc. (an American research-based global performance-management consulting company), reported that 75% of workers who voluntarily left their jobs did so because of their bosses, not the position itself.

Leaders who micromanage or make their decisions based on fear, greed, or ego often create a stressful working environment.

Chances are, most people in leadership positions inherit a certain level of stress by the nature of their job. So they certainly would not want any additional, unnecessary stress that comes from a bad supervisor. It is for that same reason that you do not want to be the individual who creates that stress within your team through faulty leadership.

Unnecessary workplace stress is never a good thing. When we feel stress, our bodies release cortisol. Cortisol is known as the fight-or-flight hormone. It lets you know when you are in danger; however, too much of it can impair rational thinking and decision-making.

If you work in a toxic culture, you are biologically more likely to make decisions that can lead to bad outcomes.

Do you want a bad outcome or a good one?

Yes, that was a stupid question; however, we see it all the time – a team of talented people being led by an individual who puts me before we. If you worked for a person like that – good. I’m glad you’ve had that experience, because there is one silver lining with bad bosses. You can learn just as much from them as you can from the good ones.

You can learn what not to do.