6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...and More.

Enter your e-mail below to get our new Free Modeling Tutorials ($200+ Value).

< previous | next >

Of Men and Bosses
 

Disincentivy's picture
VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 12:30pm
My boss is...

I don’t know about you, but I get along very well with the man who signs my checks every month. We have a blast when we go out, we both like our steak rare, we pull faces when people aren’t looking and he is dead set on finding me a boyfriend. “A lawyer is your best option” He says, “the only type of person who would survive an argument with you”

When this man is not inviting me to rooftop parties to meet our investors or clients or adorable baby slow lories, he spends his time micromanaging the living nerves out of me, and generally being unbearable and inefficient. That of course is on top of losing 100 points of IQ as the day progresses.

The more points lost, the more I question whether it’s fair for everyone working under him to endure this type of mental anguish and psychological torture. Soon after I started showing symptoms of irritation and disdain, my productivity sank into deep, cold, shark infested waters and my reactions metamorphosed into unmitigated stubbornness and out-and out challenges.

I became miserable. I became miserable because I let his inadequacies affect me at a level that should be impenetrable, and so, I made a list of the habits and actions that drive me bananas and how I can conquer them.

  • He is always late: Confirm meeting times, reconfirm meeting times, reschedule after 15 minutes of no show.
  • He doesn’t care what others schedule look like: Don’t grant “let’s meet in 20 minutes” meetings unless it is of utter importance, share calendar with him.
  • He is untrusting and paranoid: be patient, realize it’s not a fault of mine.
  • He is inefficient: Suggest more efficient ways to get things done, be very clear on instructions, double check, re-phrase and re-word his orders/requests to avoid alleged “misunderstandings”, document deadlines, ask for meetings agendas, give realistic and comfortable estimates to handle the work load.
  • He does things last minute so they become an emergency and on ASAP basis: Follow up for feedback shortly after tasks are off my plate and on his, ask him to prioritize.
  • He says things like “be professional”, “I want you on your best behavior”: Tell him that this is offensive and unprofessional; remind him that I don’t need reminders and that I will rip his eye balls off if he ever does it again.
  • He doesn’t care what he hired you to do, someone has got to get things done: Point out strengths and weaknesses, suggest other employees to carry on tasks, make it clear he is missusing my time and energy.
  • He is opportunistic: Say no.

    • I have a few other methods in the bag that I will revert to if the above-mentioned ones fail. Shout out to our very own Patrick who suggested I CC him on every “LOL” and due diligence email that goes out of my box.

    If you, ladies and gentlemen, have other suggestions on how I can tackle the issues, please share with me. Have you been in such situation? What worked? What didn’t? How do you manage your boss?

    Please note that practical jokes, hate mail, and beating him senseless in a dark alley are not acceptable options.

    Thank You!

I may not be on the Jedi Council, but I sure am great with the Force.

See my WSO blog posts

Tags:

Comments

GS's picture

Disincentivy: If you, ladies

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:11pm
Disincentivy:

If you, ladies and gentlemen, have other suggestions on how I can tackle the issues, please share with me. Have you been in such situation? What worked? What didn’t? How do you manage your boss?

Please note that practical jokes, hate mail, and beating him senseless in a dark alley are not acceptable options.

Thank You!

Communicating with him in a polite but slightly firm manner as an adult would is not an option I suppose?

PS If you've tried that and it has noticeably backfired, I'd advise you to start reaching out to headhunters.

UFOinsider's picture

Disincentivy: Please note

O
(Human, 10,333
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:19pm
Disincentivy:

Please note that practical jokes, hate mail, and beating him senseless in a dark alley are not acceptable options.

Jeez, this worked as a bartender, you mean I can't do this stuff anymore?

YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...

Going Concern's picture

sounds like you're

(King Kong, 1,689
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:24pm

sounds like you're micromanaging the micromanager!

Disincentivity:

Tell him that this is offensive

hahahaha. you might as well also tell him that you need 14 hours of sleep to be well rested, and that you're going to walk over not 'swing by' because you're not some sort of lower order simian swinging from branch to branch.

...i think the word you're looking for is jaded

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time

Disincentivy's picture

Going Concern: sounds like

VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:33pm
Going Concern:

sounds like you're micromanaging the micromanager!

Disincentivity:

Tell him that this is offensive

hahahaha. you might as well also tell him that you need 14 hours of sleep to be well rested, and that you're going to walk over not 'swing by' because you're not some sort of lower order simian swinging from branch to branch.

...i think the word you're looking for is jaded

First of all, I don't see how "needing 14 hours of sleep" equals "don't question my professional integrity" and how "swing by" equals "My ethics and conducts are intact"

Maybe you have troubles speaking up and that's how you handle things, and you choose to eat it and "get over it", but I definitely don't.

I may not be on the Jedi Council, but I sure am great with the Force.

See my WSO blog posts

Disincentivy's picture

GS: Disincentivy: If you,

VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:38pm
GS:
Disincentivy:

If you, ladies and gentlemen, have other suggestions on how I can tackle the issues, please share with me. Have you been in such situation? What worked? What didn’t? How do you manage your boss?

Please note that practical jokes, hate mail, and beating him senseless in a dark alley are not acceptable options.

Thank You!

Communicating with him in a polite but slightly firm manner as an adult would is not an option I suppose?

Oh, I have communicated several times. Works for two hours then back to his old ways.

I may not be on the Jedi Council, but I sure am great with the Force.

See my WSO blog posts

Going Concern's picture

Disincentivy: Maybe you have

(King Kong, 1,689
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:45pm
Disincentivy:

Maybe you have troubles speaking up and that's how you handle things, and you choose to eat it and "get over it", but I definitely don't.

Disincentivy:

Oh, I have communicated several times. Works for two hours then back to his old ways.

Haha, it's alright I understand your frustration, your effort is admirable. But to help out: I think the words you're looking for are 'very jaded' with a dash of 'bitter' and a pinch of 'you can't win over insanity'

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time

Stringer Bell's picture

I would start by not ending

PE
(King Kong, 1,679
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:53pm

I would start by not ending your bullets with periods. Thx.

mperit01's picture

sleep with him, you will have

ER
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 1:58pm

sleep with him, you will have him by the balls for the rest of your tenure there......

In all seriousness though if it is as bad as you make it sound, maybe you start putting feelers out at other places, if he is a bad manager chances are nothing you do will make him change that. Part of the problem is obviously what he does has gotten him to his current level so he probably isn't going to respond well to anything that involves someone lower on the food chain telling him what to do. It is frustrating but it is out of your control, one of the things I always tell younger people trying to get into this business is sometimes it is not a matter of what you are doing but more so who you are doing it for. A good boss can educate you, mentor you and help you advance your career, a bad one can slowly destroy your soul and life, to the point where you become numb to it which is an awful point to reach. It sounds like you have tried all the sensible options to this point so all that is left is something extreme - start looking for a new job. It is tough to come to grips with that (especially if this is your first job) but sometimes it is the only alternative and it sounds like you are pretty close to that point.

Good luck

Disincentivy's picture

Going

VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 2:01pm
Going Concern:
Disincentivy:

Maybe you have troubles speaking up and that's how you handle things, and you choose to eat it and "get over it", but I definitely don't.

Disincentivy:

Oh, I have communicated several times. Works for two hours then back to his old ways.

Haha, it's alright I understand your frustration, your effort is admirable. But to help out: I think the words you're looking for are 'very jaded' with a dash of 'bitter' and a pinch of 'you can't win over insanity'

That's great. Makes lots of sense.

I may not be on the Jedi Council, but I sure am great with the Force.

See my WSO blog posts

bankerella's picture

Hah, I worked for that guy

IB
(King Kong, 1,863
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 2:05pm

Hah, I worked for that guy too. Good luck.

See my other WSO blog posts

Douche Canoe's picture

bankerella: Hah, I worked for

(Chimp, 15
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 2:19pm
bankerella:

Hah, I worked for that guy too. Good luck.

I am that guy.

Nebular's picture

Douche

 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 2:43pm
Douche Canoe:
bankerella:

Hah, I worked for that guy too. Good luck.

I am that guy.

hahahaha

In The Flesh's picture

I realize this sounds

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,801
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 3:20pm

I realize this sounds incredibly naive, but I take it that saying something to HR is out of the question?

Head of Metal Website: www.headofmetal.com

https://twitter.com/headofmetal2012

Disincentivy's picture

mperit01: sleep with him, you

VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 5:02pm
mperit01:

sleep with him, you will have him by the balls for the rest of your tenure there......

In all seriousness though if it is as bad as you make it sound, maybe you start putting feelers out at other places, if he is a bad manager chances are nothing you do will make him change that. Part of the problem is obviously what he does has gotten him to his current level so he probably isn't going to respond well to anything that involves someone lower on the food chain telling him what to do. It is frustrating but it is out of your control, one of the things I always tell younger people trying to get into this business is sometimes it is not a matter of what you are doing but more so who you are doing it for. A good boss can educate you, mentor you and help you advance your career, a bad one can slowly destroy your soul and life, to the point where you become numb to it which is an awful point to reach. It sounds like you have tried all the sensible options to this point so all that is left is something extreme - start looking for a new job. It is tough to come to grips with that (especially if this is your first job) but sometimes it is the only alternative and it sounds like you are pretty close to that point.

Good luck

I think you are absolutely right. I agree that I can't change him or his behavior, and I have no desire at all to do so, but this is why I am doing everything I can to adapt to his ways.
despite how much I am hating the situation right now, I am sure this is the type of environment that helps me learn how to manage shitty bosses once and for all.

I may not be on the Jedi Council, but I sure am great with the Force.

See my WSO blog posts

Disincentivy's picture

Douche

VC
(Gorilla, 713
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 5:04pm
Douche Canoe:
bankerella:

Hah, I worked for that guy too. Good luck.

I am that guy.

Fantastic. You are silver bananad.

Bankrella, how long did you survive and how did you handle it?

I may not be on the Jedi Council, but I sure am great with the Force.

See my WSO blog posts

Vi's picture

All I read was you need to

IB
(Orangutan, 305
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 5:28pm
bankerella's picture

Disincentivy: Douche

IB
(King Kong, 1,863
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 5:30pm

See my other WSO blog posts

Going Concern's picture

i think this calls for the

(King Kong, 1,689
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 6:32pm

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time

Nabooru's picture

Whatever you do, make sure to

(Gorilla, 689
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 6:35pm

Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

Febreeze's picture

hire jamie foxx to take care

(King Kong, 1,151
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 6:46pm

RIP WSO Chat.

bankerella's picture

Going Concern: i think this

IB
(King Kong, 1,863
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 7:22pm

See my other WSO blog posts

fermion's picture

If you talk to any HR, or go

O
(Baboon, 132
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 8:44pm
blastoise's picture

How tall is this person OP?

O
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 8:49pm
El_Mono's picture

Fuck me the day I have a kid

IB
 
Points)
 on 8/31/12 at 9:31pm

Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. - Tacitus

Dr. Nick Riviera: Hey, don't worry. You don't have to make up stories here. Save that for court!

huanleshalemei's picture

Further push El_Mono's point,

(Gorilla, 518
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 11:48am

The Auto Show

UFOinsider's picture

Some people suck as bosses,

O
(Human, 10,333
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 6:27pm

YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...

UFOinsider's picture

Some people suck as bosses,

O
(Human, 10,333
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 6:51pm

YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...

Going Concern's picture

there was a post by Uncle

(King Kong, 1,689
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 7:03pm

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time

Frieds's picture

bankerella: Going

AM
(Neanderthal, 2,530
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 7:28pm
bankerella's picture

Frieds: bankerella: Going

IB
(King Kong, 1,863
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 8:59pm

See my other WSO blog posts

Frieds's picture

I did notice this was a take

AM
(Neanderthal, 2,530
 
Points)
 on 9/1/12 at 9:21pm

6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...Straight to Your Inbox.

Confirm your name and e-mail below to get our best tips

Monkey Stats
Account information
We respect your Name and E-mail privacy. By joining you accept our terms of service.