#009: Bosses- Part 1
If I asked you to share your “bad boss story”, I’m sure you’d be able to come up with some good ones. I’ve had some horrible bosses. It was sheer torture working for some of them. And they’ve given me some of the best stories I’ve ever told.
I’ve had bosses who were practical jokers. Some were funny, others, not so much. The practical joker boss would try to involve you in his practical jokes, which were usually not funny and also not very nice, and would end up pitting coworkers against each other. The practical joke boss doesn’t exactly foster a team work environment.
There were also irresponsible bosses. You know this boss, they don’t show up to important meetings. They use their expense accounts to buy things like popcorn makers for their office- but not just any popcorn maker- I’m talking about the kind you’d find at a carnival. I had one boss who, not only didn’t come to the office for six weeks, but was actually halfway across the country. She would get on conference calls with her boss and pretend she was at our office. For six weeks. And we were expected to cover for her with her boss, who, after six weeks of dodging I’m pretty sure thought she had serious bladder issues.
Then there’s the boss I like to call the Tyrant. The Tyrant will use her power over you proving she can make you do whatever she wants. She’s the boss- the rules do not apply to her. The Tyrant brings her kids to work and makes the staff watch them. Then, when HR tells her she’s not allowed to bring her kids to work, she brings them to the parking lot, has them stay in her minivan, and makes staff take turns sitting in the car with them. There was no point trying to win over the Tyrant. If she “liked” and trusted you it meant you would be the one she had doing most of the babysitting and personal errands. If she didn’t like you, she would make unreasonable demands, and do things to publicly humiliate you. She was mad once at the Assistant Director so she called a staff meeting, told the Assistant Director not to come to the meeting, then told the entire staff that she had to terminate the Assistant Director. Of course after the meeting we all told the Assistant Director how sad we were that she was leaving… she had no idea- the staff telling her how sorry they were is how she found out she was being terminated. And as scary as it was to be on the bad list, I actually preferred it to being on the babysitting list!
At the time I couldn’t see the lessons from bad boss experiences,especially the Tyrant. But looking back, I realize they motivated me to be entrepreneurial. Without them I don’t think I would have looked for ways to work for myself. So in a weird way, I’m grateful to them.
What is your favorite boss story? Did it motivate you in a way you didn’t expect? Leave a comment to share yours.
