We have all had one, and some bad bosses are worse than others. I think we can agree that having a bad boss is soul sucking. It's tempting to switch into self preservation mode, or just go running for the hills. My last boss used to eavesdrop on my personal calls, and tweaked the performance reports he showed me in my "coaching" sessions to make it appear that I was a poor performer, when upon closer inspection I was actually right on par with everybody else. His idea of team building was having the staff decorate miniature Christmas stockings with puffy paint. It's been a while since I left that company, but I know he sends late-night suggestive texts to a former co-worker and friend of mine, even though he's married. Yuck.
Needless to say, bad bosses are out there. But there's a way to handle them. Oprah in her unfailing wisdom posted an article by Suzy Welch. The article talks a bit about a girl named Amanda who entered the world from college full of youthful optimism, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Sounds pretty familiar to me. I expected that all my bosses would be coaches or mentors, there to help me realize the success I was destined to achieve. So not the case. My bad boss experiences helped me to realize that the world was not my oyster, but it also taught me about what I will and will not put up with. In the past I have probably been a little too quick to champion the rights of good and evil at work, I didn't understand how to pick my battles and be a quiet champion. This article really helps to put it all in perspective.
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