Dealing with difficult bosses. Success stories?

[Bobs69]

Do we have any? 

Who else has or has had an arrogant boss.  One that relies on "rats" on his crew and his "tuff guy intelligence" to get things done?

[68X426]

Let me think .....

[Slowpoke]

I had one when i worked for a Subaru dealer, but it was not a success story for me. 
I was the parts guy and they promoted a service writer to be the parts and service manager.
After six months she had cut the service profit by 1/3, and was starting on losing parts business.
since I was strictly commission this did not impress me at all. She was supposed to be the parts manager but after six months
she still couldn't look up an oil filter and there is only two used by Subaru, the four cylinder and their six cylinder version. 
She fired me for having a bad attitude and then proceeded to go through 5 other guys in two months before the canned her.
Turns out she was promoted from another store just to get rid of her, they were afraid of being sued because she was female, a minority, and a lesbian.
they waited till they had a ton of reasons before they fired her, and it cost them a lot of business just because of the fear of a discrimination lawsuit.

Sorry for the long story but could not think of a shorter way to explain it.
I'm not angry at them about the job since i was looking for a different one anyway, just the way they went about it bothered me.

[Bobs69]

googled this.  "According to the Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute, an abusive boss is more likely to be a woman than a man. That's right -- forget their nurturing image! Woman to woman bullying represents 50 percent of all workplace bullying; man to woman is 30 percent, man to man 12 percent and woman to man bullying is extremely rare -- only 8 percent."


Thanks for sharing.  Sounds like you had a special situation.

[68X426]

Seriously, I had several over the years. Never an easy way out - train "up", avoid, confront, transfer, quit. I have no advice because a difficult boss spells misery.

One observation: the boss's boss might actually know what's going down and eventually fix it. I had a miserable SOB once, a company VP who walked on water and was universally hated. One Monday morning the call came that he'd been fired. Sometimes the higher ups know, and you just have to outlast the SOBs.

[Bobs69]

 

No doubt.

[Silver R/T]

I deal with one (more like 3) on daily basis. I just do my job and come back next day to repeat same process, I don't try to change anything anymore as they just won't listen to someone who does same job everyday and probably knows way more about it than they do.

[Chryco Psycho]

I got caught in shop politics , I had a foreman that was a sales person promoted to run the shop but he new squat about machining & building engines , so he had to intimidate everyone ... total Jerk . I kept my mouth shut I did my job but he came to me a wanted to change a machining process so we did , warranty went from 2% to 50 % !!
I was friendswith the owner & heard he was coming to talk to us about the change in warranty , so the jackass comes to me & tells me to lie to the owner about changing the process . SO now I am screwed lieto the owner lose my job or don't lie & suffer the backlash from the foreman .
I did what I have always done & told the truth , work became hell for me so I watched & waited , kept track of all the screw ups the foreman made , found another job & asked to speak to the owner . The owner saw me & I gave him 2 weeks notice  & informed him of everything that was going on & enlightened him on why other people had quit & that included 2 others quitting the same day . The owner pleaded with me to stay but I told him I simply couldn't unless he fired the foreman . He refused to fire him after 14 years with the company so I left .
The good news is a month later with the owner paying attn the Foreman did get fired & I became a hero at the shop as all the other workers were extatic . I heard the foreman had taken a contract out on me to have me killed , he was out of work for years afterwards & was very depressed .
Was it a win , not really , I lost a good job I liked , it was a win for all of my friends at the company , some  stayed almost 20 years after that & I did do a lot of damage to the jerk foreman .
The bad news in all of this is 20 years later the owner sold the company , you would never guess who stepped up & bought it .... yup the Jerk .

[bakerhillpins]

Sometimes the higher ups know, and you just have to outlast the SOBs.

And unfortunately, sometimes they still think they walk on water and it's time to move on.

[Tilar]

I had one job for a short time when I was 20ish that had a boss like that. Life is way tooo short to deal with that crap. On the day I decided to quit, I explained to him that he needed a serious attitude adjustment and I was more than happy to be the one to give it to him. Course back then I was a pretty stout farm boy and could more than handle myself, Now at this age I'd just call him a cock sucker and leave. 

[Cooter]

This is why there's tires on his/her vehicle to be flattened. Paint to be gouged. Windows to be cracked. Etc.
Bosses that act like this are just screaming for someone to inflict a form of "Your gonna screw with me where i have no recourse? I'm gonna screw with you where YOU have no recourse" type action.

I had a b*tch of a bosss one time. She even got me fired for some racial BS she said I said.
I said, "That's ok, your time will come as Hell hath no fury like a patient person". I simply caught this chick about 8 years later working for the supermarket right down the block, standing outside smoking. I walked right by her and looked straight at her. She just turned once she saw me. Tried to act like she didn't recognize me. I walked right up to the store manager and asked him "Sir, I wonder if I might have a bit of your time?" Told him that I didn't appreciate her yelling Racial slurs at me when I walked by outside. As I left, the manager was paging her to come to the front desk. I simply winked at her as I walked by...

[Tilar]

  payback is a bitch.

[Bobs69]

I deal with one (more like 3) on daily basis. I just do my job and come back next day to repeat same process, I don't try to change anything anymore as they just won't listen to someone who does same job everyday and probably knows way more about it than they do.

This makes me think of the old tv show "That 70's Show" where Red tells Eric that is what a man does.  It's work not happy joy fun place!  You go in see how much crap you can take from the boss and go back in to do it the next day because that's what a man does!

[Khyron]

my boss is a dick....


and I'm self employed

[moparstuart]

my boss is a dick....


and I'm self employed

  me too 

[Troy]

I've never stuck around long enough to have any success with a bad boss. I know some who have practically destroyed the company they were with but I had enough sense to bail out before I got dragged down as well. I'd rather make less money and enjoy where I work than be frustrated/pissed off every day.

Troy

[Tilar]

   Like I said above,

Life is way too short to deal with that crap.

[nvrbdn]

my boss is a dick....


and I'm self employed

[Budnicks]

As a former Contractor & current very small Golf business owner, I have never met an employee that doesn't think they are under-payed or an employer/owner who doesn't think that most employees are lazy overpaid F&$#%S....  

[Budnicks]

If you don't like your job, if you think you can do better, man up & start your own business, than you can be the a--hole... It's not that easy, to start & run your own business, the employees & all their petty problems {also non work related}, payroll, facilities up keep, customers, suppliers, shippers, inventory, petty cash, rent or mortgage, banking, loans & taxes & much, much more, try it, you may end up, respecting some of those old a--hole bosses a bunch more, afterwards... I know I did...  

[Chris G.]

If you don't like your job, if you think you can do better, man up & start your own business, than you can be the a--hole... It's not that easy, to start & run your own business, the employees & all their petty problems {also non work related}, payroll, facilities, customers, suppliers, shippers, petty cash, rent or mortgage, banking, loans & taxes & much more, try it, you may end up, respecting some of those old a--hole bosses a bunch more, afterwards... I know I did... 

Always two sides to every story. The "bad boss" thing is fun to claim, but I'll bet they could fire back with why someone was a horrible employee.

[Tilar]

I gotta disagree with you Budnicks, at least to a point. I've owned my own small business with employees and I've also managed a couple different multimillion dollar a year businesses with 10+ employees and never once did I have any employees that I thought were lazy. I did have a few at the one place that thought they were underpaid but most had been there for 10+ years. The other one was a body shop where most of the guys made over 50k a year.  If employers and employees both would just use a little empathy in their everyday lives, things would be a lot different for those of you that think their boss OR employees suck.

One thing I did figure out about being your own boss, While the pay is great, the benefits suck.

[Budnicks]

I gotta disagree with you Budnicks, at least to a point. I've owned my own small business with employees and I've also managed a couple different multimillion dollar a year businesses with 10+ employees and never once did I have any employees that I thought were lazy. I did have a few at the one place that thought they were underpaid but most had been there for 10+ years. The other one was a body shop where most of the guys made over 50k a year.  If employers and employees both would just use a little empathy in their everyday lives, things would be a lot different for those of you that think their boss OR employees suck.

One thing I did figure out about being your own boss, While the pay is great, the benefits suck.

I was refering to Lazy, just to simplify the response, any employees that I thought were lazy were soon fired, I have had some great employees that were very well compensated for doing a great job, I was generalizing to shorten what would have been along drawn out more boring post.... I probably should have said overpaid in stead of Lazy, but Lazy strike a nerve better...  

[Chryco Psycho]

I too have been self employed for a looong time now , sure the boss is an ass but I can work things out most of the time !!

[nvrbdn]

they brought in a woman as area manager. never did that before. is totaly lost.makes the wrong calls, but once she says something, she refuses to back down. her own people try to guide her but she wont listen.

[Bobs69]

Wow!  Hahaha. 

[Cooter]

Worked for a guy one time that was paying himself $90K/year and was dumb as a box of rocks. If it weren't for myself and the other two guys, he woulda never got anything diagnosed correctly. His wifey pooh was a full time nurse(BIG MONEY) and came in 2 days/week to do the "books". Between the two of 'em, they were bringin' in over $150K/year when GOOD money for my area here is like $70K/year. Her daddy was rich, and set him up in business. Every time the business would get behind ($30K behind), on bills, "Daddy" would step in and help out. Boss was paying his Bitch ass wife More than I made/year and I was MAKING the company money FULL TIME. Worked there for over 4 years. In that time I saw him go through about $300K...I'm thinking Raise right? Wrong. Had a "freeze" on raises. Said he couldn't afford it right then...

Funny how he could afford a brand new Harley Davidson that wasn't good enough the way it was- - overpriced. No, he had to have the loud pipes, tuned Fuel Inj, leather seat, Talk to each other style helmets, and wheels. A new House which Wifey Pooh decided she didn't like the inside and gutted it and did over $90K worth of renovations on a $350K home. A brand new Toyota truck which he instantly installed one of those painted Cab thingies on the back (Another $2K)...
Rebuilt his 1991 Chevy Dually 1 ton that "Daddy" willed to him(over $10K invested), had it painted less than a month and let his stupid ass, Pea brained, $2K dog jump up on and scratch the hell out of the side. Bought a used Ducati Racing bike that had NO STARTER and had this roller thingy that you backed a vehicle up on the rollers to get the damn thing running. Bought a brand new 750 Suzuki Street bike so he could go racing on weekends. (Didn't do much racing, but damn sure did ALOT of falling off through the infield at about a buck twenty though at VIR). Spent our 401K which I was smart enough NOT to be involved in..
Would let our insurance lapse due to lack of payment (This happened about 8 times while I was there. I guess he really didn't think about the insurace company mailing ME a copy of my insurance coverage statement every month?). And finally, last but certainly not least, My Paycheck bounced a total of 21 times in the time I was there. I stayed and was having "Meetings" with him to try and see if we could work out some sorta deal once he got back on his feet again. I didn't know "Daddy's" money help was no longer an option at that point, so one day I come to work and there's a padlock on the door and a notice of public auction taped to the door. My toolbox is inside. Come to find out he owed back rent in the neighborhood of around $20K.

You know what I learned from this? Some people can be a boss and be just as cool as the day is long, even with bills and whatnot. Some people WANT to be a boss so badly, that when they get there, they will do anything and everything to make sure they stay "King sh*t on turd Mtn". And some want to be boss when they can't even balance a damn Checkbook, let alone run a business, but you better not EVER try and tell them anything.

I read in the local paper here about 2 months after quiting, that his house was up for sale with a Federal Tax ID number in the listing. I saw Jimmy about a month later and told him, "Ya know Jimmy, I might not ever own my own business, I might not have a rich father in law that will set me up in business, but I can tell you this, I learned what NOT to do by watching YOU!, now go to hell you Son-of-a-b*tch!"

[RallyeMike]

My first desk job was an eye opener. The boss was cheating on his wife with his #2, he had an ego a mile wide, he was a racist and a compulsive liar, and he ran his own side businesses on company time. I sat right next to him and he was too stupid to keep it covered, but he was a minority, and a vocal one, so management would not touch him.

He was also a hot head, so I decided to try and send him over the edge: I started sending him letters that looked important on the outside, but just had blank pages on the inside. I made them seem to come from important sources. The first few he just tossed thinking there was an error. Then he started getting more and more irritated with each letter. I sat right next to him and loved hearing his reaction.

When he finally got real hot, I stopped for two months and then sent him two in one day. That day he completely blew a gasket, swearing up and down and throwing stuff around the office. It was beautiful. I kept it up for a bit longer and then went back to a construction job. I was really hoping to witness a heart attack, but I left before my wish could come true. All the lies, cheating, bravado, and unbalanced behavior did catch up with him eventually: He ended up divorced, fired, and his side business went under. I like to think that I contributed to it, if only a little bit.

[Bobs69]

Seams like I'm the odd one out here.  Were I work is a factory that has well over 500 people in it.   When you split it up into AREAS and over 4 CREWS, you can have 30people(men and women) in 1 area/crew.  We are paid good.  Bosses come and go.  About 8 years ago we had one that was a bully and people started to threaten him by leaving messages, giving him a hard time, and sabotaging things to make him look bad.  He had loctite put into the keyhole of his office door and had been locked out of his own filling cabinets.  All this Bull Shit just kept him with us that much longer.  Upper management even tried to create a dream team for him by having a group of people transfered to different crews.   Fun to talk about now, but not the most efficient way to handle things.  Plus, do you really want to put that effort it?  So the silly prick went off on stress leave.  When we caught wind that he was on his way back one of the senior operators started a group grievance and had almost, if not everyone sign it.  Didn't even bother taking it to the Human Resources office, he sent it off site to the head office.  That got results.  Fast. We were all interviewed and the boss was moved to another area to be tested with a dream crew.   A crew that was suppose to be the most mature and all around  best.  They didn't like him either.  Anyhow he is long gone.

We are at that stage again.  Except this time it was a WOMAN!  YES WOMAN who got the grievance signed by the majority of the crew and took it to HR to give them a chance to solve it.  Apparently HR answeres to a different boss (someone off site) then upper management does, that way the plant manager can't sweep things under the rug.  If no satisfaction is reached this way, head office will hear about it.  

My mother and father both come from large families.  On both sides I have uncles who run, or have run their own businesses.  My mothers side is more white collar.  Xerox agent who also co-owned a bingo hall for some time.  Another had an Apple Orchard and also bought into a duct cleaning franchise.  On my dad's side they are carpenters, bricklayers.

I have admired them for being able to work for themselves.  Never considered them to be more manly.  Just different personalities.  Some of them have a certain charisma and get real evangelistic about their projects and do good.  Some are such assholes that they either can't stand working with anyone else or nobody else would have them.

It's not easy working in an environment where you have to be politically correct.

[Bobs69]

My first desk job was an eye opener. The boss was cheating on his wife with his #2, he had an ego a mile wide, he was a racist and a compulsive liar, and he ran his own side businesses on company time. I sat right next to him and he was too stupid to keep it covered, but he was a minority, and a vocal one, so management would not touch him.

He was also a hot head, so I decided to try and send him over the edge: I started sending him letters that looked important on the outside, but just had blank pages on the inside. I made them seem to come from important sources. The first few he just tossed thinking there was an error. Then he started getting more and more irritated with each letter. I sat right next to him and loved hearing his reaction.

When he finally got real hot, I stopped for two months and then sent him two in one day. That day he completely blew a gasket, swearing up and down and throwing stuff around the office. It was beautiful. I kept it up for a bit longer and then went back to a construction job. I was really hoping to witness a heart attack, but I left before my wish could come true. All the lies, cheating, bravado, and unbalanced behavior did catch up with him eventually: He ended up divorced, fired, and his side business went under. I like to think that I contributed to it, if only a little bit.

Now that is sweet.

[Bobs69]

Piece of garbage is still with us. 

[Rolling_Thunder]

Yep - worked for him - then I quit. His shop closed shortly there after.

[Bobs69]

Yep - worked for him - then I quit. His shop closed shortly there after.

That is a success story!


We got a new plant manager.  Our foreman was giving him an escorted tour and supervised introductions with our crew.  1 operator occupied the foreman while another operator, lets call him "the dirty bomb" told the new plant manager that he should talk to people alone.  His eyes got bigger.  Then the dirty bomb T-BONED the foreman so I could have some private time when it was my turn, I asked him "what could a crew do if they were having problems with their foreman?"  He said there was a couple things we could do, I said yeah we've done a couple of things, and by the way, the "dirty bomb" is occupying the foreman so I can talk to you.  I didn't say much more after that on the subject.  I just wanted to plant the seed in his head and pique (is that right) his interest.  He then stopped short and came back and asked me about my job.

Wonder if he'll remember me?

I was talking to my uncle, retired from the same company, different location, mentioned that when an American manager came to a site in Canada they were normally right on the ball.  That is to say they were pretty serious about getting things done.