The best bosses are competent at the work they oversee and are in tune with what it feels like to work for them -- that's a central theme in my new book, "Good Boss, Bad Boss." I show how the best bosses know when to push their people to work harder, when to praise versus criticize their people, and when the best management is no management at all. They are seen as in charge, but have the wisdom to listen to their people closely and to encourage them challenge the boss's ideas in civilized and instructive ways. They treat their people with dignity and respect, and serve as "human shields," who protecting their charges harm, distraction, and idiots and idiocy of every stripe.
The good news is that, although no boss is perfect, a recent national survey found that 80% of employees feel respected by their bosses and believe their bosses value their work. But there is also strong evidence that the clueless and incompetent minority does massive damage to employee's mental and physical health - a longitudinal study of Swedish workers found that those with crummy bosses had a 39% percent greater chance of having a heart attack than those with good bosses. And the evidence that bad bosses hamper productivity keeps growing: a recent survey by University Florida researchers found that people with abusive bosses more likely to arrive late, do less work, and to take days off when they aren't sick. The hallmark of the worst bosses is that they suffer from power poisoning: They focus on satisfying their own needs and wants, devote little or no attention to the needs and wants of their followers, and they act like the rules don't apply to them.
This cluelessness manifests itself in many ways; for example, one study showed that people in power were more likely to grab more cookies and to eat like pigs. To give Huffington Post readers a sense of the horrific actions of the worst bosses and, to entertain you a bit too, I put out a call on my blog Work Matters for stories about "clueless and comical bosses." Between comments on the blog and emails from readers, I received approximately about 200 examples; although many were funny, some were just plain sick and even downright cruel. Here are the 14 worst:
I would love to hear more stories about clueless bosses from The Huffington Post readers -- as well as tips and stories about how bosses can avoid living a fool's paradise and, instead, stay in tune with what it feels like to work for them. Again, the following stories featured in the slide show were submitted by readers -- some are ridiculous, some are scary and some might be downright offensive. But hopefully all are instructive.
Justin Snider: Of Bosses, Both Good and Bad
Jeffrey Hull, Ph.D.: Every Day a Little Death
Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster: Leave Your Boss at the Office
Daniel Isenberg: Should You Be An Entrepreneur? Take This Test
Yahoo's boss is not up to the challenge
|
Post a Comment
1- Worked in a restaurant where the boss would take girls to the walk in fridge to discuss issues. Found out after I had fallen for it a few times that he liked to watch the cold...'um..transform certain body parts. I was 17, he was about 40.
2- I worked in a ice cream shop with the son of the shop's owner. He was a neo-nazi and told me the holocaust was made up. I argued with him about it for a minute, at which point he threw the shop keys at my face and cut my cheek. He told me I better not go to sleep that night because he was coming to show me what happens to liars. I, with scratchy red eyes from lack of sleep, quit the next morning.
3- At a restaurant where I worked, we had to bend over to ring in orders. One of the managers would walk by and casually stroke female servers' hair and rub himself against us. I told him it made me uncomfortable and he got very defensive. For the next 5 months he regularly yelled at me in front of the staff for imagined work performance issues. Once it was for looking "rode hard and hung up wet". Finally, he had an affair with another server, and moved away with her.
These are the stories I never tell when asked at job interviews to tell about my worst job.
I was always scheduled for late night inventory followed by early morning merchandising. It amounted to about 6 hours of not-working time, since the other staff member and I (never X) always had so much work to get through that we never managed to leave before midnight. I caught the last train and there was a stabbing on it. Long story short, it wound up being another hour and a half in the station, missed the last bus and wound up having to walk an hour to get home.
The next morning I arrived to work 15 minutes late. She threw a screaming fit (face bright red) yelling "it's always SOMETHING with you" while I tried to explain. Two customers said to me "Are you going to take this?", so I gave X the finger and walked. With the other staff member and the customers.
I've been an employee much longer than I have been a boss but I have to say I am amazed everyday at my employees' behavior.
Lying, cheating, stealing, complaining, doing everything but working ...there are some employees no matter what the situation, who the boss is are just the worst. And of course, it's always the boss's fault. (sometimes it is, sometimes not)
Man up here Mr. Sutton--rather than catalog the worst of the worst point out the other side and then offer some suggestions for getting back to work.