Jean-François Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux, both of IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, did research into the relationships between employees and managers, looking at 50 boss-subordinate dyads working in four manufacturing operations of Fortune 100 companies. They interviewed the 50 subordinates and their bosses at least twice and had them complete a questionnaire between the two interviews, in which the bosses evaluated the performance of their subordinates and the subordinates described their boss's behavior toward them. The researchers also directly observed some meetings and interactions.
They discovered that there are certainly points when employees form inaccurate, negative pictures of their bosses. But it's also true that bosses can make a bad situation worse by not responding the right way. Whether they withdraw or become more coercive, bosses typically end up behaving in ways that match their subordinates' negative expectations. The ultimate result? The negative perception becomes reality.
This article is adapted from "Are Your Subordinates Setting You Up to Fail?" by Jean-François Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux, which appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review. The complete article is available at http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr.