Insufferable Bosses

Has this ever happened to you?

I got a phone call from a colleague the other day. It was one of the best ‘rants’ that I have heard in a very long time. I believe that the rant was fuelled by the controversy over what happened on the late show, Conan VS Leno,  line-up on NBC in 2010. My client envied the talk show hosts and their ability to air their views on national television. “I would give anything to have a national forum to vent my woes about my boss!” Her boss, who is apparently ‘The Don’ of all dreadful bosses and will henceforth be only referred to as ‘Dr. Dread’, claims to be the best at executing strategic plans for large government organizations with very deep pockets. My colleague then shared with me that what Dr. Dread is truly the best at executing is his ability to bully his employees and threaten them with lawsuits when they try to quit. What a NIGHTMARE!

As my colleague was interested in some advice about what to do about the situation as well as the opportunity to vent, I shared my thoughts on the situation. As always, there are only two things anyone can do about any particular situation:

a) Ignore it
b) Deal with it

Regardless of the choice, you will have to live with the consequences. By choosing ‘a’ you run the possibility of the problem getting even worse. If the situation is not unbearable yet, it may soon become so therefore it is in your best interest to opt for ‘b’ and deal with it.

Please note that there are also a couple of options under the ‘b’ category:

1. Cut your loses, get rid of the grief and, if necessary, sue him before he sues you.

2. Vent to all of your friends so that you can at least get a sympathetic ear until you come to the conclusion that you need to do “1”.  Furthermore, if your vent to the 'correct degree', you can get your friend to write about your situation in her blog.

Tell me friends, “Have you ever had to deal with an insufferable dud[e] as a boss?” Curious minds want to know!  N.B. Don't forget to speak in generalizations and change the names.