June 28, 2011
Why we need horrible bosses
- 10 Comments |
- E-mail |
NWjobs
We've all worked for them. The tyrant who enjoys belittling others in public. The snake who pawns off her work on you and takes credit for it. The workaholic who expects everyone else to give up their personal life just because he doesn't have one. The TMI queen who can't resist sharing the intimate details of her recent visit to the gastroenterologist. The scatterbrain who always remembers that Very Important Thing he needs you to do by Monday morning just as you're leaving the office Friday evening.
Complaining about horrible bosses has become something of a national pastime. Sites like horribleboss.com and truuconfessions.com allow anonymous underlings to share their bad boss horror stories and find comfort, however fleeting, in commiseration. Popular TV bosses like Steve Carell's Michael Scott win the ratings of millions by sending up such buffoonery. Movies like "Nine to Five," "Office Space," and "Horrible Bosses" (opening this weekend) indulge our fantasies of rubbing out our supervisor or burning down the corporate headquarters.
I'm all for venting about horrible bosses in anonymous online forums. Same goes for taking delight in TV and film depictions of their shortcomings and downfalls. But money-making web and entertainment ventures aren't the only ones who need horrible bosses. We workers do, too.
Don't believe me? Think I'm crazy? Look at all the business skills and life lessons bad bosses inadvertently teach us:
Management. In showing us how not to manage projects and people, bad bosses teach us more effective ways to lead -- for example, by treating people with respect and diving into upcoming deadlines well before the eleventh hour.
Communication. People with volatile bosses learn to choose their words and timing carefully. People with scattered bosses who repeatedly change project specifications soon discover they need to ask their boss for all the necessary details at the start of a project and get their sign-off at various checkpoints along the way.
Boundary setting. A boss who constantly pressures us to stay late or answer emails after hours teaches us to stand up for ourselves and embrace the word "no."
Time management. In demonstrating poor planning over and over, disorganized bosses teach those of us actually doing the work how to create realistic schedules and plan ahead.
Negotiation. A boss who's always asking us to chase dead-end business leads or pull off Herculean scheduling feats teaches us the fine art of suggesting a happy medium between their ill-informed desires and ours.
Problem solving. By being indecisive, making unreasonable demands, or refusing to answer our questions about how to proceed on a project, bad bosses force us to think on our feet and come up with creative ways to handle conflicts and otherwise difficult situations.
Diplomacy. People who have to discuss their boss's bad behavior with others (HR, their manager's manager) learn to navigate the choppy seas of office politics and become well-versed in the art of letting others hang themselves.
Past and present disgruntled underlings, what do you think? What valuable professional lessons have you learned from the bad bosses in your life?
Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com
- 10 Comments |
- E-mail |
Read more
bosses, communication, conflict, entry level, managing up, negotiating
10 Comments
Leave a comment
Karen Burns is the author of The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl, a career guide based on her 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities.
Lisa Quast is a certified career coach, mentor, business consultant, former corporate executive and author based in the Seattle area.
Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.
Former contributors
Matt Youngquist is the president of Career Horizons, a career counseling firm.
Natalie Singer is a Seattle writer, editor and small-business owner.
Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide."
Paul Anderson helps professionals in transition find their desired employment.
- career profile (155)
- cool jobs (51)
- education and training (57)
- entry level (66)
- etiquette (95)
- events (70)
- featured (323)
- finding your passion (89)
- health care (70)
- interviewing (76)
- job fairs (54)
- management (72)
- market trends (89)
- networking (261)
- resumes (93)
- salary (80)
- social media (79)
- technology (103)
- unemployment (53)
- work/life balance (85)
Career Center • Blog • Events
MissBeth on June 28, 2011 12:52 PM | Reply
Chose your battles CAREFULLY!!!
In my 40 years of working I've had several bosses who said or did inappropriate things, who yelled at me, who belittled me in front of co-workers, who have threatened to hold my pay for some trumped up reason.
The WORST one was a boss at a local iconic restaurant who wanted to bed me, and when I called him on it, he used the race card!!! He was a married man and my boss. Once I stated that as my reason he left me alone, that and I threatened to go to his superior once I learned he had done the same to other young ladies.
What I learned was to stand up for myself and to pick which incidents needed attention from people higher up in the organizarion or proper authorities.
You have the choice to stay and fight, or walk and learn....I've done both.
Erica Risberg on June 29, 2011 10:07 AM | Reply
Well, I know for a fact that after a lifetime of horrible bosses, culminating with the last one that launched me into self-employment, I have learned more than I care to with the adverse conditioning by them. Thanks for the post!
anon on June 30, 2011 12:07 PM | Reply
The ratio of good to bad bosses (most are bad) seems to be the inverse of good to bad people (most are good). Just an observation.
Barb L on July 1, 2011 2:18 PM | Reply
Bad bosses and work environments have taught me--again and again--to remain self-employed for as long as possible.
Linda on July 4, 2011 7:40 AM | Reply
While I appreciate the lessons that come with a bad situation, I do believe that a good boss can teach you all that and more. Good bosses, who are often good mentors as well, can encourage you to hone both your work and interpersonal skills. We spend so many hours at work that a good boss can either make or break a good life. Cheers to the ones who do it well!
Richard on July 4, 2011 10:20 AM | Reply
Another half hour of typing gone down the drain because failed technology. Name, address, long comment and the funny letters at the bottom and yet the machine says I didn't do something right. Boss didn't like what I typed?
Richard on July 4, 2011 10:43 AM | Reply
A second attempt at publishing the truth failed. Curious. You have my e-mail address on file. Send me yours so that I can communicate directly.
Rebecca on July 5, 2011 1:42 PM | Reply
We need bad bosses?! That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard. All of the things workers are supposedly learning from bad bosses can and are taught just as effectively through effective role modeling and mentoring by good bosses. And without the sometimes devastating psychological harm done by bad bosses. If you want to go looking for a silver lining, fine. But just because there is some benefit from having a bad boss doesn't mean that we need bad bosses to obtain that same benefit.
Dave on July 9, 2011 10:08 PM | Reply
Sure you can learn from bad examples. But I've learned a lot more from *good* bosses who show that the thing can be done, done well, and done leaving the team eager for more.
Put it this way: flowers will bloom even if fed a lot of... fertilizer. But not too much, and not without sunlight and fresh air.
Pat on July 26, 2011 1:43 PM | Reply
Bad bosses have taught me the value of a current Valium prescription, and the usefulness of an employer-sponsored EAP program. Nothing poisons a workplace like a toxic manager, nothing. I'm suffering with that right now. Thanks to Valium, I am still among the living, and SO IS HE.