Bad Boss
If you've worked for a nightmare boss or two, doesn't that just make the good ones worthy of worship? Think of it... In my career I can name one boss who remains respected and loved years after his passing - Romey Everdell of Rath & Strong, the father of Master Scheduling. He wasn't easy - in fact he tried to block me a few times - but he was fair and decent and wanted all his people to do well. The bad ones, however, were so bad that they will remain nameless. The worst, an MIT dropout who bragged about his failures, and drank over lunch, after work and probably in between, destroyed several careers before upper management finally recognized the problem and sidelined him. When he died suddenly of an overdue heart attack, former employees burst into applause at the news.
Have you been a bad boss?
Author Michelle Gibbings has been there, and she knows just how bad a boss she really was. "I loved the idea of being someone others looked to for direction, but I simply wasn't equipped with the leadership skills to actually be that someone. I made it up as I went along, with a few hits and many misses. Like most people, I didn't deliberately set out to be a bad boss...I just didn't know any better."
But enough of that, Gibbings' chapter on "What to do if you Work for One," is a lifesaver, because working for a bad boss is bad for your health. She offers a variety of suggestions, including one from her work career, which is - surprisingly - to take over part of your bad boss's job! The story is that when he went on vacation for a week, he left her in charge of his Inbox. The Inbox was a great source of panic and stress as she typically spent entire days chasing down and solving problems. But when she took over that job, something amazing happened - work life got better. So, quietly, when he returned from vacation, she kept the Inbox job; it may, she admits, not technically have been her job, but it worked, and what an easy opportunity!
Bad Boss is filled with large and small suggestions to understand and change your work life. There are end-of-chapter summaries, questionnaires and analytics diagrams to dig deeper. Throughout Bad Boss the author reminds us that unfortunately although no one else is going to solve that Bad Boss problem, she offers so many possible strategies that the idea of behavior and culture change will at least shake things up a bit.
Patricia E. Moody
FORTUNE magazine "Pioneering Woman in Mfg"
IndustryWeek IdeaXchange Xpert
A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers, patriciaemoody@gmail.com