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:
Vote in our online ballot and tell us what is the worst type of boss that you've run across in your career. I'll admit that this column and poll can be considered a cheap shot; at the same time, aren't you curious to see the poll results?
Quote of the week:
"Hitting people over the head isn't leadership, it's assault." – Dwight Eisenhower
Weekly book excerpt:
From "The Cluetrain Manifesto," by Rich Levine, et. al. (Perseus, 2001)
"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter – and getting smarter faster than most companies. These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked. Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal."
Working Wounded Mailbag:
The best workplace prank: "I had a travel month from hell a couple years ago where I was in the office for just 2 days during the entire month. As I was heading up to my little slice of heaven for what would be my first full week at the office in eons, a number of people stopped me to say 'Congratulations!,' 'Welcome back, wow! That was fast!' 'I didn't even know – you look GREAT!' I have great colleagues, but they're usually not THAT effusive. I was confused… but then, I'd been gone for a while and perhaps the team-building consultants had finally had their effect. Not. When I got to my cube, it had been decked out in baby shower decorations with 'It's A Boy' strung across the entrance. I wasn't and hadn't been pregnant – but apparently my cube farm colleagues got tired of explaining where I was and what I was doing when people came by to track me down. Spent weeks setting rumors to rights. Cost: probably $10. Result: Priceless."
Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, an internationally syndicated columnist, popular speaker and a recent addition to the community of bloggers. He welcomes your comments at bob@workingwounded.com.
This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.