Cranky-Boss Syndrome, On the Rise

We’ve all experienced it: the grouchy boss. Asking excessively detailed questions. Making unreasonable demands. Asking for next month’s assignment by Friday. Now, we may know one reason for all this grumpiness—and why workers may be experiencing it more.

New research published in the Journal of Personnel Psychology finds that managers facing money issues at home are more likely to behave controllingly at work, leading to a sometimes abusive management style and “more hierarchical decision-making.” And money issues are becoming all too common among managers today, as firms target their ranks for layoffs and offer fewer promotions. One study found that nearly four in ten layoffs involved senior managers in 2024. “When leaders are feeling fear, they’re in a reactive mode,” says Cheryl D’Cruz-Young, senior client partner in the Sustainability and Global Energy practice at Korn Ferry. “It doesn’t lead to the best decisions.”

Managers and leaders, of course, typically receive fatter paychecks than the people who report to them. But compensation expert Tom McMullen, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry, says many are now struggling with personal finances, thanks to higher inflation, higher housing costs, and less generous stock-option values. For his part, the study’s lead researcher, Trevor Spoelma, associate professor of management at the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management, says male leaders are particularly sensitive to money concerns. “They are much more reactive to financial stress and likely to engage in abusive supervision because of it,” he says.

In the past, firms valued management highly, and people who reached that level typically could expect hefty promotions or pitches for other lucrative opportunities from recruiters. Instead, with so many bosses let go, the remaining managers feel the pressure of much higher workloads with little possibility of higher pay or shifting jobs. From the perspective of HR, supporting managers is multifaceted. “Where do you start?” asks Dennis Deans, vice president of global human resources at Korn Ferry. “Are you solving for workload, or for the pressures of managing in a public company, or something else?”

Experts note that coaching can help leaders worried about money, who are typically functioning with a scarcity mindset, in which they believe that resources are both limited and inadequate, says D’Cruz-Young. This often leads to reactive, non-creative, short-term behavior—a far cry from strong leadership, in which intentional, thoughtful responses integrate the values and objectives of the organization. Coaches can help leaders shift to abundance mindsets, which is associated with better leadership outcomes.

The researchers note that employers can directly mitigate managers’ financial stress by paying them appropriate wages and by offering financial-wellness services, such as confidential financial coaching and financial literacy tools, within benefits packages.

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