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Who's The Worst Boss?
Workplace Warriors Share Tales of Rotten (and Good) Bosses
 Listen to David Molpus' report.
 Read employees' e-mails about their bosses.
Join a Talk of the Nation discussion on bad bosses.
"My former boss... had a habit of snapping fingers to summon support staff; or, if in search of a secretary, would bang on the women's restroom door calling out names until someone responded."
E-mail to npr.org
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June 18, 2002 -- "Control freak." "Stress monkey." "Corporate narcissist."
Those are among the milder nicknames workers give their bosses -- anonymously -- on the Internet, which NPR Workplace Correspondent David Molpus says "has become a bullhorn for those who feel abused or neglected at work."
Armed with a new academic study on bad boss behavior, Molpus went looking for the real-life stories behind the research. On npr.org, he solicited "worst boss" stories -- and got more than 300 e-mails in the first two days. He shares a sample of them here, and in a report for Morning Edition.
Molpus chuckles at what some e-mailers considered worst-boss behavior: "One employee said his boss insisted he use paper clips instead of staples, and he was outraged by that." But many of the e-mails, Molpus says, identified the same sort of worst boss as the Academy of Management research study did: "the Jekyll-and-Hyde boss, the one who is your best friend one day and your worst enemy the next."
Another high crime of bad managers, Molpus reports, is showering criticism while stinting on praise. He gives one example from an e-mail to npr.org: "This group of engineers, who had won an award for efficiency and productivity, actually had the president of the company stand up at the awards dinner and berate them -- tell them that they were not good workers, they were lazy slackers, and many of them should leave the company. Then he pointed to the door. This was apparently his way of motivating people, or keeping them from getting 'a big head' about their success."
For all the bad-boss narratives, Molpus says he was surprised that "a lot of people wrote in to say what a good boss they had. They just kind of wanted to defend bosses, I guess."
Here -- with names omitted to protect the innocent and the not-so-innocent -- are a selection of the e-mails that npr.org visitors sent Molpus.
The Finger Snapper
"Some bosses are the nicest people in the world except for their habits. My former boss... had a habit of snapping fingers to summon support staff; or, if in search of a secretary, would bang on the women's restroom door calling out names until someone responded. Other habits included talking on two phone lines at the same time, laying the phone down to review a file and never picking back up, or standing over the secretary's shoulder to instruct on the merits of proper letter formatting... One day, he snapped fingers at me and I literally barked at him. Shocked, he asked what I was doing and I explained some actions deserved a certain level of response. I also advised restrooms were for privacy. He laughed (Thank goodness for his sense of humor. The secretary thought I was dead!). Needless to say, he never stopped these practices. Surprisingly, I missed him when he retired."
The Double-Dealer
"It's not very often in the world that an archetype is personified within its own narrow confines, but man you've got one here. I've got a stack of e-mails that this man has sent that threaten people's jobs, physical and psychological well-being as well as income. An example of the latter comes from an e-mail I received several months ago. It reads: 'Listen, Goddamit, and I am deadly serious... Your damn bonus next year won't buy you a cheese sandwich if (production) doesn't turn around.' Later, in a meeting, this individual assured me that he was "fighting as hard as I can to get all you new managers as much money as possible.' When confronted with the 'cheese sandwich' statement, he (of course) denied ever making it. When he is in a good mood at the job, the most common comment I heard made is, 'Don's sure in a good mood; watch your back.' Duplicitous, double-dealing and hypocritical are some adjectives that immediately spring to mind."
The Harasser
"Though it gives away my age, I need to admit that this all happened before there were protections against sexual harassment. This
fellow, in the two years I worked for him, went through four secretaries, each of whom ended up preferring unemployment to working for him. I witnessed him, one evening, chatting up his latest secretary, who was sorting mail into piles on her desk and lap, and watched as he, for no good reason at all, slid his hand under the pile of mail on her lap, and went through it, piece by piece. My own worst experience with him was on a day I was wearing one of those Hawaiian style shirts. As I sat in his office, attempting to give him a progress report on an audit, he interrupted me to say -- no kidding: 'That's a lovely top -- and I really like those coconuts under those trees.'"
The User
"My last boss was the type who used others to deflect his own rather aggressive personality. He would give a manager a message that would go something like this: 'Now I want to go out there and get with Smith and tell him this is unacceptable, and you stay on him until this gets done!' That's the politically correct vernacular. Then, come evaluation time, he'd tear that person apart because 'your co-workers find you overly aggressive, uncooperative and downright tough to deal with.' He had played this card with a particularly loyal and straightforward supervisor, then threatened to fire him should he hear of another complaint. Nice guy, huh? And guess what, he's now being promoted to a vice president's position."
Mr. Insensitive
"I have had a weight problem all my life. I had a boss who told
me, twice, that 'we have to teach you how to walk like a lady instead of charging around here like an elephant.' About my sister, who was dying of cancer, 'God, it's taking your sister so long to die!" When I had muscle spasm in my back, he got down on the floor and simulated sexual intercourse, stating that that was how I had hurt my back. I told him upfront that I have fibromyalgia syndrome, and he wrote me up, stating that I was a hypochondriac. He just never stopped."
'A Great Guy'
"This is probably not germane to your story, but I'd like to say a word in
defense of bosses. I've had the good fortune to have several wonderful bosses. Even the two that
I didn't particularly care for treated me fairly.
My current boss is a great guy. He is hands-off as far as supervising,
allowing people to do the jobs they were hired for and know how to do.
Yet, he is always available (the door is literally always open) for
help. He considers nothing below his status, and has even cleaned up the
lunch area when others have left messes!
In addition, he's easy-going, has a great sense of humor, and shoots
from the hip. I have no doubt that in addition to saying 'thanks for
the job you did on that,' he would say immediately if he wasn't happy
with something you did. No surprises."
Good Boss, Bad Boss
"I'd like to tell a tale of two laboratories. When I first began
working as a medical technologist, I was impressed by the
professionalism of my coworkers. They took pride in their work, and
would actually vie for the right to work overtime. They were also loyal
to the laboratory; most had worked there over 10 years. The techs seemed
quite satisfied with their jobs; they smiled often and rarely complained
even though they were paid $1 to $2 (an hour) less than other laboratories in the area.
"A few months later, our lab got bought out by a bigger laboratory, and
soon I saw that the culture was very different there. Techs often cut
corners rather than take pride in their work. They became indignant if
asked to work overtime. And the turnover rate of employees was
staggering; most techs quit within their first month of employment.
"After a few months of working at the second lab, I realized the
difference was largely one of management. The boss of my first
laboratory went around to every employee once a week to ask how things
were going. At first I thought she was merely trying to be polite.
Other techs, however, took her question seriously and would tell her of
recent instrument problems. She would listen intently and ask them how
they think the problem would best be solved. I realized, then, that she
cared about what happened in her laboratory. She was also quick to
praise her workers in front of others when they had done a particularly
good job, and she thanked them publicly for working overtime. If a
tech made an error, she would bring out her work log and ask the tech to
'help' her fix a problem -- a problem that had the tech's initials by it.
In other words, an error the tech had reported out.
"The manager of the second lab, by contrast, seldom ventured out of her
office. When she passed her employees in the hallway, she would often
look away, even when her subordinates smiled and said 'hello.' When
approached about instrument problems, she would become impatient.
However, she was also quick to anger if she had not been informed of
these problems. She never praised or thanked anyone for doing a job
well or for working overtime. However, if a tech had been slow to
report out a result or had apparently made an error, she would
publicly chastise the tech.
"These different managerial styles seemed to have created very different
work environments for the employees. From my experiences at these two
laboratories, I've learned that managers can have a significant impact
on the job satisfaction of their employees, and higher salaries don't
guarantee employee retention."
Other Resources
• EmployeeSurveys.com is an online business research lab that surveys employees on a range of issues.
• The Campaign Against Workplace Bullying, based in Bellingham, Wash., is an advocacy group for "people whose health and careers are injured by psychological violence at work."
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