Horrible Boss?

My frst Accounting job was a nightmare. I was still in school and had two teen-age kids

Dave's boss was a lunatic and Dave was trying to leave the company.

Talk about an upheaval! I decided I had better get a job. I got the worst one in the world.

The husband and wife that owned the corporation were crazy. They were only two years behind in their bookeeping and were attempting a computer conversion.

They screamed and yelled at each other all day long...

Alice,
depending on the culture, there are some that appear to be angry with each other, but in reality, it is just their manner of showing affection.

A horrible person, in my view, is someone who is sneaky. Knifing you in the back with a smile on their face.

Abe F. March wrote:

Alice,
depending on the culture, there are some that appear to be angry with each other, but in reality, it is just their manner of showing affection.

A horrible person, in my view, is someone who is sneaky. Knifing you in the back with a smile on their face.

Right, Abe,

They did love each other--they were just a pain to work for.

The poor shipping man never did anything right.

For example, when they were unloading freight the boss would look
at him and say, " What are you standing there for? That is right where I want to put the boxes."

People would order thimgs--they wouldn't get the orders ready, then when the customer would call and make inquiry, the woman would motor mouth at them.

"Do you realize what we have been through ? The neightbors rammed our building wth their hyster. George died. Alice quit, Alice came back.
We are converting our books to computer. I was in a wreck..."

It was funny, but sick. Also, the wreck was her fault. The gentleman whose car she struck called her and she said, "Why on earth when you saw me do something so stupid didn't you take evasive action and avoid this accident?"

Unfortunately my co-worker and I could not hear his reply--no doubt it was priceless!

Abe F. March wrote:

Alice,
depending on the culture, there are some that appear to be angry with each other, but in reality, it is just their manner of showing affection.

A horrible person, in my view, is someone who is sneaky. Knifing you in the back with a smile on their face.

Abe,

You must some people that I know!

I agree with you that these types are horrible!

God bless!

The worst boss I ever had was at a casino where I worked as a security guard. We were suppose to eject people that became drunk and disorderly, or who tried to cause fights, etc. My boss (supervisor) had a guy whom he tried to eject from the casino one night, but as the man began to become combative, my boss put his hands in the air and began walking backward and telling him that he didn't want anyone to get hurt (he was afraid he would get hurt!).

I stepped in and told the man to leave, at which point he decided to try to punch me out. I blocked his punch, and grabbed the hair on the back of his head and put his head into a thick wooded post, knocking him out. We carried him out, where the Indian police (just ariving) took him into custody.

My supervisor wanted me fired for doing that! However, he was the one that got fired because he did not do his job. I was commended for what I did as it was done in the quietest and least damaging way.

The supervisor that was fired then wanted to start something with me and he was then ordered off the casino property.

That is a bad boss!

Have a great day and God bless!

Abe F. March wrote:

A horrible person, in my view, is someone who is sneaky. Knifing you in the back with a smile on their face.

Not too many people I've met were like this Abe, but I suspect they do exist!

Preacher,

You sound like Walker, Texas Ranger.

Ahad,
It appears that Abe has been around more than we have.

Alice,

No, I was doing my job. My boss should have done his job, but he didn't.

God bless!

I hope you received a good bonus!

Bosses ...

Elves and bosses? Not a good combination ... especially when the bosses are human.

When I was a supervisor, the general manager once told me during my quarterly review that I was "too nice" to my employees ... as though it were a bad thing.

She was probably the most disliked boss I ever worked for.

That corporation did me a favor by letting me go during a 'reduction of force'.

I was a boss for 14 years. I hope I wasn't too horrible.. I was accused of far more than I did wrong!!!

We were a three person management team: my business partner, an executive director and me. The executive director and I worked very well together, and although I was technically her boss, to this day if the subject comes up, I say she and I worked together, not she worked for me. My business partner and I would disagree from time to time, almost closed the whole place down a time or two and that would have been disastrous to many people, but somehow we would always come to a compromise that was better than either of our ideas alone.

Carol

Things have changed, but in the past, the boss did not associate with his employees and he/she was referred to as Mr. or Mrs. That changed. When the bosses started associating with the employees, going out after work for a drink, etc., they discovered that the boss was just like them, putting his pants on the same way as they, and he became "one of the boys." It was a good feeling but respect was lost. On those off-hours, the boss was often asked questions that should have been confidential, and made statements with his guard down, that later created problems.
There are numerous thoughts on this subject and everyone has an opinion. A boss must decide how he will lead. Wanting to be liked is often the first step to losing respect. Ideally you have both, but if there is a choice, I prefer respect.

I never like to be called Mrs. and was seldom included in going out with employees. It was kind of "us" and "them." We did have parties we both attended, but usually didn't talk shop because we'd bring spouses and most of what we did was confidential anyway.

I think we had a pretty organized operation. The management team spent a lot of time with business plans and found this very valuable.

Carol

I loved being the "Bosses Wife" particualrly at the annual Christmas party.

My favorite was the lady who would over-drink then attack my religion.

It was so funny--I don't know why her husband allowed her to come, but I am glad he did--she was quite entertaining.

Although I hate to admit it, the worst bosses I've had were either women or very young men. You wouldn't think women could be bad bosses, but the ones I have had were.

I've worked for some of the best as well as some of the worst.

My first principal ran an operation that was such fun I got up every morning singing an old Steve Martin song: "I get paid for doin' this!" One of the directors at the place I work now just sucks all the air out of the room whenever she walks in. If it weren't for the kids and the program, I would be gone.

Ann

Dear Ann,

One of the funniest lines I ever heard on TV was in Absolutely Fabulous.

" One of the directors at the place I work now just sucks all the air out of the room whenever she walks in. " reminded me of it.

The line was, "She's so anal she is afraid to sit down for fear she will suck up the couch."

Love,
Betty

Betty,

That fits this one, too.

Ann

This thread got me thinking about all the difficulties with employees who never thought I did it right.

Then I remembered the simple gift they gave me when I left. It is a key chain with a heart on it and is engraved, "To Carol, the Heart of Pathway."
(Pathway was the name of the business.)

Carol

Carol, why didn't I guess that your business would be named Pathway? I cannot imagine you as a horrible boss.

Ann

I think women can be absolutely wonderful bosses or tyrants.

I am sure you were a fine boss, Carol. Maybe you just thought the workers did not like you.

The fact that the workers told you, you were wrong shows that you were approachable.

In 1960 I went to work for an appliance company in Nashville, and the next year I was promoted to assembly line supervisor, the youngest person ever to hold that position with that company.

I enlisted in the Air Force in November of 1963, and after completing my service I went back to the same company, where I stayed a year or so longer.

Over the next 35 years, other than a couple of brief time periods I have been a "boss" and I've set production records in every company I ever worked for. Most of the records still stand, even though it's been over 5 years since I retired.

I attended classes at UT, and Vol State Community College in practical supervision and the problems associated with it, and later on I got my industrial engineering certification, which also had some things that helped me to deal with people.

Over the years, I have been perhaps the most well liked supervisor in the companies I worked for, and managed to lead my employees well enough to break all of the existing production records. You don't have to be hated to be a good supervisor, and you don't have to have their respect, although it usually makes you feel better when you do. All you have to do is tell people what you expect them to do, what the company rules are that they have to go by, and then let them do their job. You handle their problems as they arise, give them the tools they need to work with, and at the end of the day you don't accept any excuses. From them or from yourself.

Most people will work hard for you if you treat them with some respect and if you treat them fairly, and that's all I ever tried to do.

You can socialize or not, I've never found that it makes much difference. The main thing is to remember that you are no better than they are, and to treat them exactly like you want your boss to treat you. Allow them to keep their dignity in all situations, even when you are showing them to the door, and they will always think you were one of the best "bosses" they ever had.

I think my having to "manage" six kids, many times on my own, gave me a valuable education in managing people.

Since ours was a small business, we tried to put much of the management system into the organization. That was where my nonfiction writing skills were valuable with having a good policy book. I don't think it had a large readership, but everyone knew where it was and knew it was our book of rule.

Carol