how to deal with a bad boss

May 19, 2011

I’m quoted in a few places in this MainStreet.com article on how to deal with a bad boss…

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

Dude May 20, 2011 at 4:13 pm

That was a nice piece. Pretty good advice all around.

My current boss was an equal that got promoted above me. He’d been here longer so there was no bad blood, I actually looked forward to working for him since I already had a good relationship with him.

Long-story-short, he made a lot of newbie manager mistakes and I made a lot of dumb employee mistakes and our ralationship was poisoned. I wish I’d read this article when it all started :-/

Over the years he’s gone through phases that resembled most of these “bad manager” types pretty closely. And to his credit, he’s become a very good boss. Unfortunately, I’m still resentful over what I feel was him using me as a crash test dummy to learn to be a good boss. It’s fully my problem and I realize that, but I can’t help it :-(

I’m looking for the door.

Somebody please give this economy a kick in the pants…

Anonymous May 20, 2011 at 7:28 pm

What happened to the spade-and-quick-lime option?

Anony Mouse May 20, 2011 at 11:01 pm

The problem with going to HR to complain about a bad boss is that
HR will support the boss 99.999% of the time. Once you complain you go from the frying pan into the fire. You will be on his radar until he either finds a way to fire you or he makes you miserable enough to quit.

Ask a Manager May 21, 2011 at 4:11 pm: Totally agree with that going to HR isn’t usually the way to go. It’s why I rarely recommend it (and didn’t to the reporter).

Reply

Hank Hill May 21, 2011 at 2:48 am

I don’t know that I’d be proud of being quoted in an article that puts me in the same league as Penelope Trunk.

esra May 23, 2011 at 9:02 pm

Trunk’s advice is pretty terrible in that article. There is nothing wrong with helping your boss shine, but come on. Her quote was so blasé.

Ask a Manager May 23, 2011 at 9:12 pm

I think Penelope is often a beautiful writer, and talented at marketing, but I think a lot of her career advice is (a) designed to get traffic by being provocative/counterintuitive, not actually to give good advice, and (b) not based on much real-world work experience. Her career path has been very non-traditional, so her advice doesn’t always make sense for the majority of people. Beautiful writing though.

J_Mo May 25, 2011 at 10:42 am: Thanks. I wondered about that.

I really enjoy reading her blog, but sometimes her comments make me go “What?”

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Lila May 23, 2011 at 11:13 am

I had a boss who supported my medical condition 100%, one time when I was out of the office medically he put in my hours. I was FIRED for putting in the wrong hours, granted they were after me because of the medical issue (horrible) and this was just an excuse. A year after I was out and working at a better place he was fired for fraudulent activity- rerouting calls to vertain reps so they could get more sales!

The second time, medical also, I was reprimanded for going to the bathroom too much. I went to HR and nothing significant happened, but they kept him and never said a word. I was watched like a hawk and ended up leaving.

Don’t trust anyone, keep all documentation.. and don’t have a long lasting medical condition. You wll be OUT if you do, or at least watched until you make a mistake. It’s horrible, but it happens. No matter how well you do at your job (my sales were through the roof). Companies don’t like sick people.