Working Wounded Blog: The Worst Boss Ever

Oct. 12, 2005 — -- News Flash: Delphi files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and asks for a 63 percent pay cut from workers while the top executives enhance their own severance packages by 50 percent.

Delphi's announcement reminds me of a Vietnam-era joke. One soldier turns to another and asks, "What's the difference between the Marines and the Boy Scouts?" When the other soldier doesn't know, he responds. "The Boy Scouts have adult leadership."

As much as Delphi quickly has become the poster boys for poor leadership, unfortunately they don't seem to be the only ones lacking "adult" leadership today. According to my e-mail, today's workplace is full of bosses who seem more focused on baubles and bling than on their organization's well-being – bosses who yell, who have their own set of rules, one who even asked his assistant to type her own termination letter (a true story from one of my presentations). Management hubris seem to be all the rage (pun intended).

Think I'm exaggerating? Then listen to what people talk about on airplanes, in restaurants and on street corners. It's all about work. And the one work topic that dominates all others is bad bosses. Sorry to break this to you if you are a boss, but chances are that your employees are talking about you. And what they are saying will make your hair curl.

Which got me thinking, is there a particular group of bosses who are worse than another group? So as a community service, the nominees for worst type of boss are: