Inside an upward spiral, everything feels better and goes better. Performance is higher and less effort is required to create the results. Things are very sustainable. People feel inspired, supported and happy. They enjoy their work and want to grow with the company.

In a downward spiral, people feel defeated and hopeless, or even worse, resigned. They are surviving work and only faintly hoping things will get better. People fell disempowered, drained, and tired.

Great bosses create upward leadership spirals. But how do they do it?

Well, first, don’t create a downward spiral. Here are some common ways that bosses create downward spirals — Don’t do these!

• Pushing or pressuring people.
  You can push people for short periods with a specific, defined objective. But, beyond that, pressure will create a downward spiral. I’m not talking about being “easy” on results. You can be “soft” on people and still have high standards (”hard” on results). In fact, this is what the best bosses do.
• Having unclear objectives or being difficult to satisfy. Being hyper-critical.
• Making poor decisions and not listening to employees and others.
• Being angry, insecure, or fearful.
• Being uptight and uncomfortable.
• Being in a down, pessimistic mood. Expecting bad things to happen.
• Being manipulative or overly political. Keeping secrets.
• Being untrustworthy or having low integrity
• Thinking you know it all or are the smartest guy in the room. Refusing to learn or change your mind.
• Trying to use fear as a motivator! Bullying people.
• Being controlling or micro-managing people.
• Taking credit for a subordinate’s work.

It’s not that you have to be perfect! But, when you mess up, clean it up. Apologize! Do what’s there to do.

Next time, I’ll continue and give you ideas on how to create an upward leadership spiral.

That’s why I’ve created The Better Boss Project — To help bosses become better managers. As a boss, I’ve had a lot of the bad ideas I’m going to tell you about. And, my results haven’t been as good as they might have been.

I got my first management job when I was 28 years old and was just finishing up my MBA. I had great grades in school and cared about people, so I thought I knew what I was doing. It’s just that there’s more to being a great boss than having good intentions or book knowledge.

I’m still defining everything I want to cover, but some of the topics may be:

• Understanding the Leadership Spiral, and how you can create both positive and negative spirals.
• How to be more effective by not trying so hard.
• How to give effective employee feedback.
• When to engage with people (direct employees or not), and when not to!
• How to unleash both your team’s and your own creativity.
• How to manage yourself.
• How you can be more effective with less stress.
• How to relate with people and inspire them.
• How to delegate and hold people accountable for results.
• How to hire great employees.
• How to get the most out of your team.

If you have any other ideas you’d like me to cover, please leave a comment. Or, let me know if you have immediate interest in one of these topics.

And, check back! I’m going to add to the list.