Advice about dealing with horrible bosses from Jane Miller, author of *Sleep Your Way To the Top, and other myths for business success* from FG Press. Please visit http://fgpress.com/library to purchase a copy of *Sleep Your Way To the Top* and other titles.
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Horrible Bosses: How to Identify Them and What To Do If You Work For One
1. HORRIBLE BOSSES
HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM AND
WHAT TO DO IF YOU WORK FOR ONE
by JANE MILLER
AUTHOR OF
Sleep You Way to the Top
*and other myths about business success
3. Let me tell you something,
you stupid little runt:
4. I OWN YOU.
YOU’RE MY
BITCH.So don’t walk around here
THINKING YOU HAVE
FREE WILL
because you don’t.
I COULD CRUSH YOU
ANYTIME I WANT.
So settle in, ‘cause
you are here for the
L O N G H A U L .
- DAVE HARKEN, HORRIBLE BOSSES (WARNER BROS.)
6. OUTLIVE YOUR
HORRIBLE BOSSES
The horrible bosses are just the ones that seem
to leave an indelible stamp on your psyche.
They are the ones you need to outlive as you
move up your path to the your top.
I will profile some of these horrible boss types
and how to deal with them, because you will,
without a doubt, run into a bad one.
7. HBs COME IN ALL
SHAPES & SIZES
Sometimes you don’t know they are horrible
bosses until they become YOUR boss.
Here is a sampling of the guys and gals you
will run into and, more important, how to deal
with them.
DON’T BE AFRAID.
Oh, and don’t become one of them.
9. THE BULL IN
A CHINA SHOP1Identifiers:
• Annoying as a peer, but especially
aggravating as a boss.
• Loud and overbearing.
• Scary-powerful and still power-
hungry
10. How to Handle The Bull:
• Don’t get sucked into his/her
emotional fray.
• Stick with the facts.
• Make sure you have alliances
outside of the bull (you don’t
want to be lumped in with
him/her).
11. DR. JECKYLL
& MR. HYDE2
Identifiers:
• Seemingly bi-polar personality.
• Scary and unpredictable.
• One day he’s your biggest fan, next
day: “hero to zero.”
12. How to Handle Dr. Jeckyll / Mr.
Hyde:
• Remember, it’s about them, not
you.
• Weather the storm—this too will
pass.
13. GLASS
HALF-EMPTY3
Identifiers:
• No matter what you do it isn’t good
enough.
• Hit your sales goals? Why didn’t you
negotiate better margins?
• Bring your costs down? You’re still 5
cents away from your goal.
14. How to Handle Glass Half-Empty:
• Don’t take it personally.
• Don’t be overly positive (they will
feel the need to bring you down).
• Balance is the key.
17. TAKE THE HIGH ROAD
• Never never tell your boss’s boss what you
think of your boss.
• Companies make decisions and you don’t
always have the visibility to all the facts.
• Keep your opinion to yourself and know
that he probably won’t be your boss for
that long.
18. THINK ABOUT THIS:
• Who was the best boss you ever had? What
made him/her great?
• Who was the worst boss you ever had?
Why?
• Is it important to you to be viewed as a good
boss?
• If you were a boss, what type would you
be?
20. TALK TO JANE
@jane_knows
facebook.com/janeknowsbusiness
Jane is the CEO and founder of janeknows.com, a career advice website.
Previously, she served as the President and CEO of Charter Baking Company,
the bakers of Rudi’s Organic and Rudi’s Gluten-Free. She was also part of
an executive team that developed the first bankruptcy emergence plan for
Interstate Bakeries. She served as President of the UK & Ireland division of the
HJHeinz Company through May 2006.
In 2000-2002, she ran the Western Division of Bestfoods Baking Company,
the bakers of Oroweat, Thomas English Muffins and Entenmann’s. She spent
fourteen years at PepsiCo in a variety of senior management positions,
including Central Division President. She has a BA in Russian Studies from
Knox College and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Jane serves as the interim President and as a board member at the
Unreasonable Institute and as an advisory board member for the Deming
Center at the University of Colorado, Justin’s Nut Butter, and ReWork.