Do you work for a bad boss? If you’re not sure, then you probably don’t.

A University of Toledo professor of management has analyzed years of seminar data from workers describing their worst bosses, and it turns out some pretty obvious and consistent traits separate the merely difficult bosses from the truly awful supervisors.

“When people were asked to chronicle their worst boss, they either cited lack of character or competency,” said Clint Longenecker, a professor of leadership and organizational excellence in the university’s college of business and innovation. “When we teach leadership, we now focus on character and competency. The list of bad traits leans very heavily towards character issues.”

Mr. Longenecker, who has conducted leadership seminars for nearly 12 years, said he always has asked participants to think of their worst boss and then write a description of him or her. “About a year and a half ago I decided to take those answers and analyze them,” he said. His findings were published in a recent issue of Industrial Management, a publication of the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

And, unfortunately, when other communities recognize UT leadership, we lose great people to other communities, as was the case when Dr. Joseph Shapiro, chair of the Department of Medicine, accepted the position as dean of the School of Medicine at Marshall University. UT’s loss is the gain of the medical community in West Virgina.