have you had a bad boss/manager? how did you deal with him/her?

Question

A friend has a situation where her boss is totally aloof...she works tons of overtime and he doesn't notice nor does he show any type of gratitude. A couple of days ago, she sees her boss getting 'kudos' from the 'big boss' for "keeping the division working so well". This, even though he does hardly anything himself and pushes down a lot on his subordinates. Should she do anything to get herself noticed or get her boss to understand the impact of his actions?

Answer 1

Had a boss like that, took credit for everyone elses work. It was a man as well. I finally got fed up because he had me running around in circles with misinformation and miscommunication I finally got fed up and went to the Director. Boy did things change after that!
I would recommend your friend cease her OT. If she has other co-workers who are running themselves ragged as well, she needs to convince them not to work the OT, either. Also, she needs to keep track of every assignment she works on for him, every duty she performs for him. This is called CYA (cover your a**). I had a good supervisor teach me this and it's been a valuable thing to do. That way, if he ever comes back to your friend and wants to know why this project hasn't been completed, she can whip out her little notebook and say "On this date you asked me to work on this, this and this". I can guarantee if he sees she is keeping track of conversations, assignments, etc., he'll back down and start working.

Answer 2

So, when you infer aloof then its in reference to the boss
keeping distance from what he consideres the secondary
level of position. Sometimes these upper level positions
have mandates to follow & in some cases the rule of thumb
is no personal envolvement with employees. I've seen
where a supervisior can receieve serious reprimand for
associating with the lower level workers.
So, having said that; if this is not the case then perhaps
your friend can approach her boss to probe into any stress
her boss may be experiencing because of how distsant
he appears to be around the work place environment.
A sort of letting him know he has been observed and percieved
as someone to be concerned about. This may open a window
to inlay a one on one relationship and perhaps help her boss
to be more attentive to his people ....
You see, questions like this are difficulit to express opinons
because if your friend is simply dealing with an ego driven
personality, then any confrontation may only bring more grief
to your friends delemma.
Good luck to your friend .

Answer 3

My Boss is a 42 Yr old jerk that still lives with his mother,the biggest liar that i have ever heard to boot.Just do your job and stand clear from this person,and look for a better job,i`m a truck driver so i don`t see my nimrod boss much,maybe twice a wk,and i just say "Hello & Later". Good Luck.

Answer 4

I've had so many bad bosses that I came up wtih a course on how to survive working life... here's a newspaper article about it:

mapsgroup.org/urban_coyotes.htm

Email me if you are interested -- we usually do the course over 3 days weekends.

Answer 5

Don't put in so much OT. Sooner or later the BIG BOSSES will catch on if they haven't done so already!!!

Unfortunately it happens all too often. The little guy who does all the grunt/hard/messy work gets under appreciated. Where as the guy who doesn't get dirty/mess gets all the accolades.

Fact of life. Sad to say!

Answer 6

Probably nothing she would do would make him appreciate her. I've had bosses like that. If she likes her job, tell her to just do her best at it. Take pride in that and that is your own reward. You shouldn't need anyone to validate you, although it is nice. Most people don't like their jobs. If she does, she should stay there.