April 30, 6:10 am
Who not to work for, Part II
Here are a few more rules (guidelines / suggestions / call ‘em what you will) about who not to work for.
The first two descriptions fell into the outgoing, arrogant jerk side of the equation. These next two describe more of the passive style of jerk—or is it passive-aggressive?
Rule # 3. Do not work for the Not-Responsibles.
Somewhat similar to Blame-aholics, this type makes everyone else responsible for how they feel. Examples include: He makes me angry. He makes me mad. He makes me upset. He made me feel [supply feeling here].
If the person with this style is a middle manager he will avoid taking responsibility for enforcing discipline. Rather than grow a backbone, he’ll use phrases like “the boss said …, so we have to . . . .”
Chances are that if you work for a Non-Responsible, you will be made unfairly responsible for someone else’s feelings or choices. That’s really bad boundaries and not a healthy place to be. Be a healthy person – take a walk, get some fresh air, and look for work somewhere else.
Rule # 4. Do not work for Spineless Jelly Fish.
This type of leader/manager refuses to confront trouble makers, so they create policies that take away privileges from everyone just to punish (or pacify) a select few.
Example:
Spineless Jelly Fish announcement: People have been complaining about coworkers listening to their iPods at work. New rule: No more iPods.
What really happened: Two people out of 90 complained about a couple of janitors listening to music while they worked. It’s not that the janitors couldn’t hear someone talking to them—they could. In fact, there was never an incident or problem of any kind. It’s just that the two complainers thought they would be ignored if they tried to talk to the janitors.
How management wimped out: Management could have said “No problem. If you need their attention but they don’t reply, simply catch their eye and indicate you need to talk with them.” Or, set policy on iPod use: To the janitors, say “No problem listening to music, just make sure the volume is low enough to where you can hear someone else talking to you.”
With Spineless Jelly Fish, the workplace morphs into an uninspiring swamp of nonsense every time someone complains.
And there you have it. Descriptions of the jerk bosses you probably don’t want to work for. So do your homework. What seems like a dream job can be a hellish nightmare if you end up working for an overbearing or an inept manager / senior executive.
PS — It would be quite interesting to hear some of the “jerk boss” stories people have. Feel free to add to the conversation . . . (click “comments” below)
Filed in Work, Business, Management, Leadership, Team Building, Workplace
In my career I have worked people who fit rules number 1 and 2.
8 or 9 years ago I worked part-time in the IT department of a state agency while I was going to graduate school. The IT manager of this agency was an accurate reflection of rule 1 - an arrogant belittler. I saw it in how he treated the staff he supported. He was just the pushy type. A huge micro-manager.
One day he decided that I needed to keep a journal of all activities I was doing. He said it was standard practice in IT and when I say all activities, I mean ALL ACTIVITIES.
Fortunately, that didn’t last very long. I had an offer for a graduate assistantship and took it right away. I didn’t even think twice about it. The lesson is watch how your boss interacts with other people. If it is negative in any way shape or form don’t think for a second you’ll be immune to it. You know the old saying, “A leopard can’t change its spots.”
Thanks, Justin. I’m curious just how detailed you got on “ALL” activities for this schmuck. (not that you need to go into detail for me . . . )
Personally I think leopards can change their spots . . . but (a) it takes a looonnnnggg time, (b) they REALLY have to want to do it, and (c) even then they will experience a lot of relapses.
I think of it this way: A rubber band always wants to return to its original shape.