You can go nuts dealing with bosses from hell

Most of us have at some point had to work with bosses who were in over their heads. If the griping to friends and on social media is anything to go by, it’s safe to say that there are more lousy bosses than good ones. I’ve had my fair share of horrible bosses: One particularly nasty boss gave me an earful for taking an afternoon off to see my critically ill aunt in hospital, despite the fact that I had finished all my assignments for the day.

Another bad boss who had it in for me and gave me a last-minute assignment on a Friday evening with a very unrealistic deadline, knowing very well I’d have to work all day Saturday to finish it. First of all, I wasn’t supposed to work weekends and secondly, that Saturday was Valentine’s Day. The job was not an emergency but he wanted it ASAP. So I spent the better part of my Valentine’s Day transcribing a three-hour interview and when I finally handed it in, he kicked up a fuss claiming I had taken too long and said he would have had it done in two hours maximum. That for me was the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back. I tendered my resignation the very next day and never looked back.

Most bosses are narcissistic pricks who care about no one but themselves. They would do anything to make themselves look good regardless of who they hurt in the process. The person who said that power corrupts could not have been more accurate. I once worked with a guy on the same level for quite some time and then he got a promotion. That is when he became the devil incarnate. He became worse than the big bosses themselves. Having worked at the same level as us, one would have thought that he would be more understanding of our problems and difficulties but he was having none of that.

There are a lot of unhappy, disengaged and dissatisfied employees out there all because their employers are a bunch of assholes who use threats and intimidation to manage them. These are employees who have lost passion for the work and are just there for the paycheck. What they don’t understand is that their actions are actually counterproductive. Instead of having workers who will give a hundred percent to their job, you will get a group of resentful people who just want to look busy until five O clock then get the heck out of there.

It should not be that way. I know it can be difficult to stand up to your bully of a boss but life is too short to put up with such crap.

@roxannekenya