Arrogant bosses equated with poor performance
July 26th, 2012 - 3:21 pm ICT by IANSWashington, July 26 (IANS) Arrogant bosses are typically poor performers who can drain the bottom line by slighting subordinates to mask their own insecurities and creating organisational dysfunction.
A new measure of arrogance, called the Workplace Arrogance Scale (WARS), developed by researchers of University of Akron and Michigan State University, can help organisations identify arrogant managers before they damage them.
Arrogance is characterised by a pattern of behaviour that demeans others in an attempt to prove competence and superiority.
Stanley Silverman, professor of industrial and organisational psychology at Akron’s Summit College, says this behaviour is correlated with lower intelligence scores and lower self-esteem when compared to managers who are not arrogant.
“Does your boss demonstrate different behaviours with subordinates and supervisors?” Silverman asks.
He says a “yes” answer could mean trouble.
Silverman warns that “yes” replies to these other questions raise red flags and signal arrogance, the journal The Industrial-Organisational Psychologist reports.
Silverman and his colleagues Russell Johnson, assistant professor of management at the Michigan State, and Nicole McConnell and Alison Carr, both doctoral students at Akron’s Industrial and Organisational Psychology programme, conducted the research, according to an Akron statement.
Left unchecked, arrogant leaders can be a destructive force within an organisation, notes Silverman.
With power over their employees’ work assignments, promotion opportunities and performance reviews, arrogant bosses put subordinates in a helpless position.
They do not mentor junior colleagues nor do they motivate a team to benefit the organisation as a whole, contributing to a negative social workplace atmosphere, says Silverman.
Silverman says arrogance is less a personality trait than a series of behaviours, which can be addressed through coaching if the arrogant boss is willing to change.
Silverman emphasises that cultivating humility among leaders and promoting a learning-oriented work climate go far in reducing arrogance and increasing productive leadership and employee social interaction.
WARS will be presented at the American Psychological Association convention in Orlando August 2 by Silverman.
- Keeping boss happy fast tracks upward mobility - Jun 10, 2011
- Exercise helps in calming hostile bosses - Jan 25, 2012
- Are modern women nightmare bosses? - Dec 05, 2011
- Females bosses can wreck other women's promotion - Apr 12, 2011
- Bad boss? Here's how to cope - Nov 03, 2010
- Imagining positive co-workers improves performance - Jan 13, 2012
- Why female bosses wreck other women's promotion hopes - Apr 11, 2011
- Giving employees more autonomy pays huge dividends - Jan 25, 2011
- People with good jobs in big cities more likely to engage in pro-environmental activities - Jan 19, 2011
- Why do model employees tend to give up? - Jun 03, 2012
- Emotional support cuts absenteeism at workplace - Feb 07, 2012
- Corporate security experts warn against job-related stress - Nov 22, 2011
- Entitled employees 'more frustrated on the job, more likely to abuse co-workers' - Jul 14, 2010
- Your dog at office could be a great stress buster - Apr 01, 2012
- Mitch McConnell Targets President Barack Obama - Nov 05, 2010
Tags: behaviours, destructive force, doctoral students, helpless position, insecurities, intelligence scores, junior colleagues, michigan state university, organisational psychologist, performance reviews, personality trait, poor performers, promotion opportunities, red flags, russell johnson, s industrial, summit college, university of akron, work assignments, workplace atmosphere