Professional Consultant on TikTok Sparks Conversation About Red Flags in Managers

Is it just me, or has everyone had the world's worst manager at one point in their life? If you've never experience a toxic work culture, at least here in the U.S., then you are living a very unique life. So many managers' management style is more like how your 7th grade bully treated you. So much guilt tripping, exploitation, manipulation, the list could go on. Like every situation, it's not all bosses, but it's enough to make everyone extremely wary of every manager they have. And that's just being smart. 

TikToker Cindy Lee is a professional consultant and shares her tips and tricks and just daily life in the business. Recently, she shared a list of red flags in a manager and it has sparked some conversations around it in the comments section. Some of the items on the list are a no-brainer, like micromanaging and uses bait and switch tactics. But others have garnered more questions, like #1 which says is the manager has stayed at the company their entire career it's a red flag or #7 that says if you never have a career conversation with them then that's a red flag.

Red Flags in Managers

TikTokers agree and disagree with the commentary this TikToker has posed. Unfortunately, many have dealt or are currently dealing with managers that are riddled with red flags and this list just solidified that. Many think #1 isn't entirely fair. Some companies are family run and thus some of the management has been grandfathered in, but that doesn't necessarily make them bad managers. Others say it depends on the career field, like in tech, it's quite uncommon to have a manager who has only worked at one place and if you do have one it means that company has no room for growth. 

Many viewers are triggered by the micromanagement red flag. It's such an obvious one, but it's a difficult one to tackle. If your boss is a micromanager that also means they probably also have #6 as a red flag, which is making everything a high priority. If your manager has both #2 (micromanagement) and #6, then run for the hills. Nobody is going to change the toxic management style of that manager. 

This conversation has created a healthy debate around what makes a poor manager. It's definitely more than just micromanaging, but everything else might simply be up to the individual and career field.