5 Types of Bosses That Cause Burnout
You've probably had one of these bosses. Maybe more than one.Most burnout doesn't come from bad people. It comes from bad patterns. And one of the biggest ones? How leaders handle pressure. When managers lead from fear, scarcity, or people-pleasing, it doesn’t stay contained; it rolls downhill. Over time, I’ve noticed that those stress patterns tend to fall into five familiar archetypes. See if any sound familiar. 🔥 The Firehose BossThey treat priorities like a game of dodgeball... everything’s urgent, everything’s #1, and nothing ever really finishes. Their anxiety lives in motion, so they keep you moving too. How to handle it: Anchor conversations around trade-offs. “If this becomes the focus, what moves off my plate?” Clarity is your antidote. 🔎 The MicromanagerThey confuse control with competence. Their brain says, “If I know every detail, nothing will go wrong.” The irony is that need for control creates mistakes because it kills trust and autonomy. How to handle it: Get ahead of their fear. Provide proactive updates (“Here’s what’s done, here’s what’s next”). You calm their control by replacing it with visibility. 👻 The Ghost BossThey disappear when you need them most and reappear right before launch to “tweak” everything. Their avoidance is rooted in fear of being wrong, so they stay out of the messy middle where real leadership happens. How to handle it: Clarify check-ins early. “Would you like to review at the midpoint or after I’ve finalized?” Make feedback a process, not a surprise. 😍 The People-Pleaser LeaderThey say yes to everything because they’re desperate to be seen as helpful. The result? You end up doing the work they were too nice to push back on. How to handle it: When new requests come in, gently name the pattern. “It sounds like leadership really values responsiveness; what’s realistic for us this week?” You’re modeling boundaries they haven’t built yet. 🙅♀️ The Conflict AvoiderThey equate peace with safety, so they let dysfunction fester. Accountability disappears, high performers over-function, and resentment grows. How to handle it: Document facts, not feelings. “Here’s what’s happening, here’s the impact, here’s what we need.” You make the invisible visible without escalating emotion. 🎧 In this week’s episode of The Balanced Badass Podcast®, I go deeper into how each archetype forms, what's really driving their behavior, and practical ways to manage up.
Each of these archetypes is a reflection of unprocessed leadership fear. And once you learn to see the fear, you can stop internalizing the fallout. So, while you can't change who your boss is, you can change how you engage with them. Take care, Tara |
