The 12 Scariest Bosses Anyone Could Have
Research shows that managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores.
The 12 scariest bosses:
- Ghost boss – only shows up when things go wrong.
- Wart boss – loves to point out what’s wrong. (Cousin to the ‘witch on a broom boss’ who flies around complaining.)
- Screaming boss – loses emotional control and gets over it quickly. Volatile bosses create eggshell environments.
- Hide in the shadows boss – lets others handle tough issues.
- Boney finger boss – puts you on the spot in front of others.
- One eyed boss – only sees things from one viewpoint.
- Blind boss – hopes tough issues will vanish on their own.
- Blind boss #2 – has no idea about your talent, strengths, and passions.
- Zombie boss – craves results but never talks. Related to the ‘vampire boss’.
- Scary mask boss – tells you one thing and tells something else to others.
- Princess boss – does everything well. Bosses that don’t have weaknesses are scary idiots who believe they know more than everyone else.
- Long-nose boss – looks down on your talent and minimizes your effort.
5 tips for dealing with scary bosses:
#1. Never let a scary boss be justification for self-sabotage.
A lazy boss is your opportunity to learn new skills, make unique contribution, and improve your resume’.
Don’t shoot yourself in the foot to punish a lousy boss.
#2. Don’t complain.
Your boss’s boss already knows you have a scary boss and has chosen to tolerate it.
What response do you receive when you bring up concerns?
When your boss’s boss justifies scary behavior, the situation will continue.
#3. Thrive in adversity.
Look for new employment but thrive until you find something better.
#4. Accept it.
If you plan to stay, accept the situation unless it’s unethical or illegal.
#5. Develop.
What type of boss do you wish you had? Become that person.
What scary bosses have you seen?
What suggestions do you have for navigating scary bosses?
Bonus material:
10 Signs You’ve Got a Really Scary Boss (Inc)
How to Deal with a Bad Boss According to a Career Coach (NBC news)
This is brilliant, especially the “Tips” section. Thank you for sharing.
Dan, LOL today love your labels! The “Hardcore Boss” “its my way or the highway”, just saying! Don’t shoot the messenger.
“Poindexter Boss” If it’s on the drawing it has to be right!
“Don’t do as I do, do as I say”! Which you can say they told me so!
I have found in my lifetime, if you ask first how they prefer things done it helps to develop a working relationship. Then we just go do it, seems simple until someone else changes the way.
Limit the choices makes things simpler, if its free range good luck!
Thanks Tim. “Hardcore Boss” … my way or the highway. OH BOY… the problem is “MY WAY” has to always be right or everyone crashes and burns.
Loved it Dan! Maybe instead of some of our Leadership Profile Inventories – this would be a down and dirty, easy way for employees to evaluate their supervisors. Two or more scary icons = a special session with a Coaching Exorcist.
Happy Halloween!!
Thanks Mary. “Coaching Exorcist” … love it. Cast out those scary bosses. 🙂
Don’t always assume that the boss’s boss really know how scary your boss is. Some people manage up very well, or the boss hears some complaints but doesn’t realize how bad it is.
Thanks Patricia. Good reminder. If the boss’s boss doesn’t know you have a lousy boss, you have bigger problems. 🙂
“Thrive in adversity.” This says it for my 40 years in the biz. I’ve had some good, very good, not so good, absent, boring “bosses” but my success is my talents and my drive to “thrive” in spite of who I work for. I’ve been successful taking that pathway.
Thanks Roger. It’s a big step when we outgrow the power we give lousy bosses to sabotage our success!
I would add Seagull Boss – shows up in the middle of a project, poops all over everything that’s been done, then leaves.
Thanks Jon. Gotta laugh, even though it isn’t funny when it happens.
Number seven, the blind boss, sadly sounds like the politician who assured Americans that one day soon we will awaken and the virus will have disappeared overnight.
Lots of blind bosses all over. Sad to say. And, I suppose, we might be blind and not know it.
“Zombie boss – craves results but never talks. Related to the ‘vampire boss’.” – I am assuming the vampire boss sucks the morale out of the team…
Thanks Jeannette. I can go with vampire bosses sucking morale out of the team. (I just thought it was fun to add relatives. I didn’t have a definition. Thanks for adding moral sucking.)
13. The Ogre Boss. One who epitomizes for than half of the descriptions on the list. Longest years of my life.
Thanks Hot… Wow, I hadn’t thought about combining them. Now there’s a lot of possibilities when you start piling them up.
My current boss is an interesting combination of #8 and #6. There is never a dull moment in my office! Unfortunately for the rest of us she is the bosses boss, she’s the CEO. I love this post Dan, thanks for the laugh and the lessons!
Thanks for jumping in, Sara. What do they say, Blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other. 🙂
I wish you well as you navigate your path forward.
I’ve found bosses that have all of the answers challenge me the most, namely when I ‘own’ part of the business. Why employ me to be completely responsible, if I don’t have the autonomy to make the decisions? I’ve found myself in this spot before. The most powerful point you make (in my opinion) is #3. Positivity and finding a way to resonate with your boss’s personality (love it or hate it), is a super power! If you can figure-out what makes them tick, how you can use their traits to help you, you’ll be far better off. Obviously, some are hard to figure-out than others, but this has changed the game for me in a few circumstances where I was continually frustrated.
This is brilliant, and appropriately scary for Halloween. As I was reading, I recalled a number of individuals who played these parts… and I wondered which scary boss character I have the greatest risk of falling into!
There’s always, a boss.