Types Of Bosses And How To Deal With Them

There are many bosses and bosses, “of all kinds and colors.” There are as many types of bosses as there are different people in the world, because each person is unique and as bosses they will be too. However, if you already have a certain career path, it is possible that you have already come across many and can identify some of those that we are going to present in this article.

Knowing the different types of bosses is important insofar as their work and their leadership style often determine the productivity and environment of the company.

Knowing them allows to enhance the strengths and correct those that are being an obstacle for the good course of the company. Understanding their way of working and acting also gives the worker clues on how to act towards them. Let’s get to know them.

How many types of bosses are there?

Depending on what we base ourselves on to define them, we can create more or less categories of types of bosses: according to their character, according to the level of directivity, according to whether they are focused on promoting productivity or personal relationships, according to their age and generation …

In 2018, the Generation and Talent Observatory prepared a report on the study “Intergenerational Leadership” in which the managerial behaviors of managers are analyzed according to the generation to which they belong and attributed specific characteristics to them. Let’s get to know them.

The traditionalists, the veteran managers

In this category would belong the bosses who were born before 1955 and probably there are few left because they are approaching the retirement age. These bosses were and are corporate, committed, experienced, results-oriented.

They are elderly people who, most likely, are anchored in a hierarchical and authoritarian type of leadership. They may be prejudiced towards women and younger workers. They tend to resist changes and the advancement of new technologies. On the other hand, they are people with a great knowledge of the sector in which they work and have a very large network of contacts. 

The boomers baby

As a rule, they correspond to the generation of those born between 1956 and 1970. They are expert, rigid, controlling, respectful and hard-working bosses . Although they are younger than traditionalists, they may not master new technologies and resist their implementation in company procedures.

They are usually good bosses in the sense that they know how to define the objectives and strategies of their teams, they empower and develop the talent of their collaborators and they are good at conflict management. However, with these bosses, conciliation is a pending issue.

The bosses of generation X

Bosses born between 1971 and 1981 are considered productive, adaptive, and collaborative. They are perceived as a “hinge” generation between baby boomers and millennials . These bosses exercise less hierarchical relationships and more oriented to personal relationships.

They are assertive and close bosses: they listen to their team, teach it and empower it, promoting the self-management of their workers. At the productivity level, instead of offering feedback at the end of the project based on results (like baby boomers bosses ), they offer constant recognition and based on constructive criticism.

In a team led by a Gen X boss, more positions are likely to be held by women than in any of the previous generations. Perhaps that is why they are more sensitive to the need for work-life balance.

The bosses of generation Y, the millennials

These bosses were born between 1982 and 1992. They are ambitious, dynamic, persistent, demanding – with themselves and with their team – and individualistic, although their leadership style is highly oriented towards interpersonal relationships. They also like to work in a team and always under pressure. They may find it difficult to manage long-term plans due to the hectic pace at which they work.

Because of their age, they are tolerant and have great adaptability, which makes them much more versatile bosses and workers . They are more creative when it comes to providing solutions and have a greater social commitment.

This generation may have a lack of experience due to their youth and may have difficulties managing teams with workers older than themselves, especially if they are from other generations that are somewhat more “rigid”. The youngest millennials live immersed in the digital world, which makes it difficult to disconnect from work.

How to deal with the different types of bosses?

As we have seen, bosses can be grouped by generation to which they belong. This does not mean that they are bosses cut by the same pattern and that there are established tips on how to act and work with them.

Rather, it means that they are people who, having lived in a certain time, have experienced similar personal and historical events and have developed in a specific social and political context, which defines part of their way of being. Therefore, it is necessary to know how to adapt to the characteristics of the bosses of each generation.

Faced with stiffness … flexibility

Older bosses, traditionalists and baby boomers , as we have seen, tend to adhere to quite rigid hierarchies and ways of working and find it difficult to implement new procedures, especially if they go very hand in hand with new technologies.

First, he tries to adapt to his way of working “without dying trying.” On the other hand, little by little, try to introduce small changes, doing it in an open way and involving him. Remember that maybe you were born knowing how to handle a tablet , but he continues to make diagrams on a sheet of paper.

Over time and with practice, they will surely come to appreciate the benefits of new and more efficient procedures. But be patient. No one is born knowing. Well, maybe the alpha generation does.

Faced with excess control and interference … Clear limits

We mentioned that bosses belonging to the first generations tend to be more rigid, have difficulties delegating work and like to be aware of everything that happens in their teams. They prefer to carry everything on their backs than to form different teams with different bosses.

If this happens, focus on showing your skills and offering to lead a small group of people. Make him understand that you are qualified to carry out functions that require greater responsibility and that he will always be aware of your every move. Over time, they will delegate progressively and if you earn their trust, they will stop being so on top of your work.

This “being on top” can also occur in new generations, in the millennial generation , although not in the same way. Thanks to new technologies, we can know in real time how much a person works, if they are productive and if they meet their objectives. You can send a large number of emails and make an excess of calls.

Many times, with the excuse of “I’ll send it now and read it whenever”, people are never able to finish disconnecting from the workday because they always have an email on the screen that puts them “in advance” of what what will come. Before this, set limits, both to yourself and to others. Except for extreme urgency, avoid opening and answering work emails, respect your hours of rest, ask for that respect, and respect those of your colleagues.

Friendship, yes … but don’t interfere with work

In teams led by younger bosses, interpersonal relationships, team spirit, collaboration, friendship… which is perfect. However, perhaps what should be fostered the most is trust and camaraderie.

When a boss is more friend than boss, we can run into problems. He, because of the friendship that unites you, is going to feel free to ask you, perhaps and as a favor, something more than to your colleagues or to hours when others are not working. And you, because of the friendship that unites you, you are going to respond and you are going to collaborate “because he is your friend.”

Another problem is that responsibilities can be diluted, delivery times be somewhat lax and the quality standard be below what is established. This can generate favoritism, which can cause rejection in the rest of the workers, which can be burdened by the good work environment and, consequently, the good results. We do not forget to mention the problem that supposes that a labor dispute becomes a personal matter that aggravates the basic labor dispute.

For all this, it is important to understand that friendship is perfect from the outside, but from the inside it can bring more problems than benefits. So let’s focus more on promoting trust and collaboration than friendship itself. Also because friendships arise, they cannot be forced.

The new types of bosses … stomping and with a tablet under the arm

It is to be expected that the new types of bosses, those that have come out of these last generations, the generation Z and the alpha generation, the digital natives, when they become bosses, will have more than mastered all the technological and digital skills. In addition, they will have an ability to learn procedures based on new technologies and use them much faster than older people.

With what is today fighting for equal pay between men and women, integration, reconciliation and teamwork, it seems clear that e young hese leaders will probably and by far much more social consciousness .

Perhaps the biggest obstacle they face is managing teams of older people and other generations. Will future bosses come with social skills, assertiveness, and diplomacy more than internalized? We will see!