When people gather around the water cooler, there's always onefavorite topic: toxic bosses. You know, the ones who make lifein the office unbearable? Here are some of the more commonvarieties you'll find.
1. The Screamer. You can't miss this guy. He never stops toconsider his audience or who might be listening when he startsone of his rants. He'll dress down a subordinate in the middleof the hall; he'll scream at the supplier on the phone; he'llholler to his secretary from inside his office instead of usingthe intercom. Nothing's private and no one is exempt from histemper.
2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A variation on The Screamer, onlywithout the consistency. With this boss, you never know whetheryou're going to be praised for something or get your head handedto you. It's hard to plan for both flowers and brickbats at thesame time.
3. The Micro-Manager. A very common genus, the Micro-Manager isso unsure of herself that she can't afford to trust otherpeople's work. She makes you explain reports line by line, thensends you back to re-do them. She demands twice-daily updates onyour projects. She won't let you make a single decision withouther input. It's like being in kindergarten but without nap-time.
4. The Invisible Woman. You never see her, which might be okexcept when you need a question answered or someone to back youup on a sensitive project. This boss thinks that if she hides,nothing bad will ever happen. Of course, nothing good will everhappen either, but she thinks that the status quo is just fine.
5. The Gossiper. No one has more inside info than this guy does,and he isn't shy about sharing it. He'll tell you why the guy inshipping got fired and how the woman in payroll really messedup. He knows all the skeletons and where the bodies are buried.Conversations with him might be interesting, except for thatlittle worry about what he might be telling people about you.
6. The Idiot. He just doesn't get it. He either has the IQ of aturnip or he only sees things in black and white. He doesn'tunderstand complex ideas, nuances or more than two options. Makesure you spell things out completely, using only the facts (noassumptions), and use small words.
Do you recognize anyone? Probably - toxic bosses are everywhereand, unfortunately, we've all got a story to share.
If you have a toxic boss who's making your life miserable, youmay want to consider a new job. To get you started, check out myfree mini-course, "Your Perfect Job - 3 Steps to Jump-start YourSearch". Sign up at http://www.achieve-momentum.com.
