Habits we develop in our youth often have long-lasting effects; some are positive, while others hinder our growth and development. As we age, when we repeatedly encounter problems at work and feel helpless, we realize these are caused by our daily habits. Although we may deliberately try to change after understanding this, some habits are very difficult to break.

Recently, INC shared some bad habits of terrible managers. Perhaps you share the same issues; see if any of these apply to you?

1. Expecting employees to communicate well with you, but not doing the same yourself. Your view on communication is confused. Managers always want project participants to submit regular status updates and send routine emails. Managers always want project members to let them know if they've lost control of the project budget, or if there are moody employees, etc. But managers don't give the same treatment to project members. Many managers have unrealistic views on management; they think they don't need to talk much about their own challenges, which causes confusion about the company's vision or budget.

2. Promoting people before they are ready. This is a sign of a terrible boss. Perhaps as a boss, your intentions are good, hoping team members succeed. But the real reason bosses promote employees is: fear they will leave the company. Putting people in charge before they are ready is indeed ridiculous. It also makes other team members look bad.

3. Always being accused of "shooting from the hip." Sometimes you are proud of your confrontational attitude; you won't let anyone get away with anything. If there's a sign of trouble, you schedule a meeting, immediately drop bombs on those people, tell them they're in danger of being fired, or raise your voice to make a point. The right approach is to ask questions, seek solutions, and reassure people in the solution. A cracking whip never works.

4. Buying things you like without knowing if they're necessary. Do you have this problem in the workplace? The boss suddenly brings in new laptops to distribute to every employee, maybe even Apple ones. But these laptops aren't what people want; they don't simply want flashy new features like the boss does. The boss was fooled by marketing. The problem here is that the boss didn't communicate fully with employees to understand what they really need for their work, and whether they could be more competent in their current jobs.

5. Having too much pride in your role. Pride exists in everyone's heart and is the hardest to shake off and overcome. Some is self-confidence, which we call good pride; this confidence allows us to freely lead others because we have more experience. Bad pride is the feeling that your worth and purpose derive from a lofty position. You are the boss, but it's just a job. Terrible bosses always look down from the top of the stairs.

6. Thinking you know everything. Children think their parents know everything. That's problematic. Perhaps parents do know more than children about driving or cleaning fish. But do you treat your employees as if they are ignorant laborers? Even when facing a more experienced manager, leaders find it hard to relinquish control, but this is where "servant" leadership is needed: be humble to those who are better than you in certain areas, and let others take charge and oversee the process.

7. Not fully sharing your vision. INC author John Brandon believes that during his years as a boss, the worst thing he did was not leading the team to achieve goals. He led a writing and design team; he had good ideas on how to ensure end users understood complex applications, and his transition to writing was smooth because these things are essentially the same: solving complex problems. But he didn't fully share his views, and employees often felt rebellious because they didn't know the team's goals, yet he expected them to understand his mind. John Brandon considers this his biggest mistake.

Do you have these habits as a boss? Some habits are due to temperament, others are developed in smooth sailing. But if you check and find them, perhaps you still have the chance to correct them and become a good boss.