Bad bosses

DrBlueBob said:
I'm this wasn't the case PB but I can't shift the thought of you going in on a six month contract, doing really badly at your job to the point that your manager has to keep a close eye on you and you somehow get away with it because you've been shagging his wife who keeps you in a job by putting in a good word for you.
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I'd just like to point out that wasn't the case.
 
My first boss was incredible. Gave you enough information and assistance to do your job but enough autonomy to learn and develop and take on more responsibility. Created a great team and the majority of us stayed together for 6 years under his guidance - which is rare particularly in my industry.

Following that we had a young guy way overpromoted who was a micro-manager. It was horrific. Emails until 1am and then from 6am. Sometimes he'd book in an 8am meeting at 1am that morning and would rant if you missed it... answering that you were asleep and hadn't checked your diary until you arrived at the office at 8.30am wasn't sufficient. Eventually we became robotic. We couldn't function unless he was telling us what to do. Every meeting had to have minutes and actions. We spent more time writing down what we had to do than doing what we had to do!

It was painful and I hated him.

But then I had a new boss who gave no guidance, didn't manage the team or timescales at all and that was probably worse. I knew what I needed to do and had the responsibility to manage my own projects again which was great, but I had no knowledge of what the priorities for the business were and he had no interest in providing them. And I found that equally frustrating.

Now I don't have a boss because they've taken 6 months to replace him. I report directly into the MD and as expected he's too busy to really say anything other than "it needs to be done now". Probably why I'm leaving in a couple of months after 9 years at the company!

I was ruined by having such a good boss to start with.
 
I once had a boss when working for a local council. He was in charge of the green spaces.
I had know of him for 30 odd years ad he left a job as head greenkeeper because that's just say he cocked up and tried to blame the chemical suppliers.
He could talk the talk to people who didnt really understand the job.

He wouldnt allow the office staff pictures of their families or little mascot type things that the ladies liked on their desks. We werent allowed to talk unless it was work related.

He knew I knew his passed and with in the greenkeeping world he was a bull shitter.
Anyway the golf course was getting alot of phase under my management and he didnt like it.
I heard a whisper that he was after me !
He called me into the office and started ranting away about this that and the other. All bollocks and very unprofessional I just staired over his shoulder watching the rain.
He than called me the worst greenkeeper he had every meet. I laughed learn forward and said you know thats bollocks and you are known as one of the worst greenkeepers I have never killed of 18 greens !.
He than started shouting and really losing it lol told the line manager to start discipline action against me.

I just got up and said heres my resignation letter and walked out laughing. I said to the girls in the office " how do you work with that wanker ?".

I was lucky that I had except a new job the day before lol. So lucky was I

If I had stayed I would have got the union in for bullying
 
What I have found in business is that if someone is good at their job, at some point they get offered a promotion, they accept it but don't often have the skillset for that position. Sounds like your boss above that level. Promoted beyond his level of competence to do a job, happens the world over
 
I actually walked from my last job without a job to go to, the manager was that bad. I've never done that before in my life. Probably wouldn't do it again either but I think everyone has the right to hit the eject button if your circumstances are doing you no good. I've a feeling it'll be something I look back at and see it as a great decision, even if things are a little uncertain right now.
 
bigstanhibbert said:
What I have found in business is that if someone is good at their job, at some point they get offered a promotion, they accept it but don't often have the skillset for that position. Sounds like your boss above that level. Promoted beyond his level of competence to do a job, happens the world over
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Promotion usually seems to stop at the first level of incompetence. Always too late.
 
From my experience over the years I have found that many bosses get promoted above their abilities. Basically roles need to be filled and certain people step up to the plate and take ownership and responsibility. They generally then get developed further and do a good job, but they then get more and more responsibility to the point where they become ineffective.

But i do accept that there are Bosses out there who are just incompetent.

One thing I would say is it is very easy to be critical of someone in a role without having held that responsibility yourself, It can be an extremely difficult job to undertake. I always try to remind myself of that.
 
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My immediate boss where i work is incredible
what he gets away with i mean !
he's as been there about 4 years
i'd say ,at the very most,he has worked 8 months in that time.

he was suspended for a full year at the start of this pandemic,2020,nobody knows why.
came back ( 2021 ) but didn't work with us for the next year,but the online rota is there for all to see,he again only worked a few days in that year.

came back last december 2021,and as probably worked 10 days since then,he is currently " unavailable " since early feb2022.

welcome to the NHS,where management,can't and don't " manage "
 
bigstanhibbert said:
What I have found in business is that if someone is good at their job, at some point they get offered a promotion, they accept it but don't often have the skillset for that position. Sounds like your boss above that level. Promoted beyond his level of competence to do a job, happens the world over
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Everyone gets promoted to their level of incompetence - otherwise they’d keep getting promoted.
 
abu13 said:
From my experience over the years I have found that many bosses get promoted above their abilities. Basically roles need to be filled and certain people step up to the plate and take ownership and responsibility. They generally then get developed further and do a good job, but they then get more and more responsibility to the point where they become ineffective.

But i do accept that there are Bosses out there who are just incompetent.

One thing I would say is it is very easy to be critical of someone in a role without having held that responsibility yourself, It can be an extremely difficult job to undertake. I always try to remind myself of that.
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Good leadership is utterly dependant on good followership. I know this sounds like wanky management nonsense but unless you have your workers on board with what you are trying to achieve it becomes very difficult to manage.

As a new manager in post you may have to work on that initially to get them onboard, but it's worth the effort. It can also be very easy to lose the cohesion in a team where there is friction, so getting people who work well together in the right place is often key and sorting problems out quickly is paramount.
 
ob said:
Just realised he's been here 4 years. Everyone says at start he's crap won't last 6 months, won't last year etc etc. One of web guys made redundant (finishes today) boss not been in touch once to say bye, wish him all the best, etc. Guy not even in my team but I've gone into office today to take him to pub for lunch, bought him leaving card. Helped him prepare for leaving meetings with HR, helped him apply for jobs and fix his CV. English not his first language so struggles at times no one else offering to help him.
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ouch. 4 years? It usually takes a couple to out and get rid of a clown so someone above him isn't seeing what you are seeing.
 
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It's more a client of mine that causes hell. Take, take, take. I punch above my weight with minimal support from people on 5 times my salary. Been a good life experience but I've just taken 2 weeks off work, need some time to re-evaluate my career choice or maybe take a sideward step.

80 hour weeks for a client who are ungrateful and just throw you under the bus at every opportunity. There's more to life than work, luckily my physical health is good as I make that a priority. You get one life and I've reached my sliding doors moment where I've had the nice house, new car, Mrs, decent salary and still unhappy and unfulfilled due to my life Monday to Friday. No job title or salary should make you feel unhappy more often than happy.
 
Had 2 bosses who in staff meetings declared their admiration for A.Ferguson and what they learned by reading his autobiography ...
 
I've had some horrendous bosses over the years & some brilliant ones.
The one thing i've learned is that if you ever find yourself promoted to management within the same company then weed out the cancers in the group and fuck them off, you'll know who they are from being in your previous position.
The ones who constantly whinge & moan, the ones who infect the group with thier negative bullshit, the ones where nothing is ever good enough, the daft cunts who actually think the company won't survive without them.
Give them a chance to change of course but if they don't, then fuck them off.
Just like one bad boss can destroy a group, so can a bad employee
 
I totally know what you mean. My ‘Boss’ retired years ago but continues to hang around like a bad smell and many in here see his presence as a real hinderance but are too scared of him to say otherwise. Problem is that when he was the boss our company was right at the top and we almost had a monopoly on recruiting the best people, equipment and literally had people were falling over themselves to sponsor and fund us.

We were lauded from the rooftops and people in the industry blew smoke up our arses all the time and with-it success just seemed to fall on our lap like the people in our industry wanted and, in some cases, let us win. We thought those days would never end and when some American Venture Capitalists took us over, we thought our ongoing dominance and success was assured for a lifetime.

Anyway, he retired almost a decade ago now but still comes in almost every day (we always knew he liked a drink, but he seems pissed all the time now) and it’s like he still runs the show. We’ve had others come in to take over but it’s like they can’t perform in ‘the company way’ like he did, almost as if they are unable to make their own mark because he’s there in the shadows, pulling the strings, making things difficult.

I suppose the worse thing is, a company who always used to be our lap dogs and were pretty much just an object of ridicule to us secured some major funding just before his retirement and are flying high now. They are now taking up most of our share in the market and picking up all the awards, best people and funding we used to enjoy.

I can literally see no end to this change of fortunes as they seem to have a strategic plan for the future whereas we just seem to make the same mistakes and are either turning corners or just going round in circles. The company building is now literally falling down around us, and not only do we have a leaky roof, but we had a break in last year, but thankfully no real damage was done, and you could say it was all in vain.

Anyway, I really do not know what the future holds for us while he sticks around and most of us just turn up to get our pay check and have no real passion for this place anymore. I suppose the moral of the story is never rest on your laurels and think you’ll always be the best as you are in fact just arrogant arseholes who took advantage of a certain situations and made no real plans for the future as we were arrogant arseholes.

I’d like to say you live and learn but I just don’t think we have.
 
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