do managers this bad really exist?

by Alison Green on December 26, 2009

A reader writes:

I’ve enjoyed reading your blog the last few months. I am however left wondering – where do these people work? After reading about the interactions your readers have with their leaders, I am stunned. Am I this sheltered? Do managers this clueless and/or evil really exist?

They do exist.

I don’t believe any of the managers I’ve written about here are evil. They are, however, often incompetent, weak, or clueless.

They’re also what inspired me to pursue the career path I ended up pursuing.

If you haven’t encountered them, count yourself very lucky.

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{ 4 comments }

{ 4 comments… read them below }

  1. Anonymous*

    Actually, I worked for a company that was more dysfunctional than the one portrayed on The Office. Michael Scott reminds me of the owner of the company. The episode where he made Dwight choose a new health insurance plan really hit the mark. Then we were bought out by another company where the boss is a control freak above all other control freaks. When the company was closed, I was required to sign a NDA that stipulated that I would not post or otherwise say anything derogatory about the former company so that I could receive severance pay. We were given no notice that they planned to shut down the company but the property manager for our complex knew, because they were secretly trying to sell the building for at least a year prior to that. Only a few of the 20 people that worked there have found another job since the company closed in Oct. 2008

  3. Anonymous*

    Just to throw in some real-life experience, I've had the wonderful opportunity to work for bad managers. Such as someone who consistently does not pay contract employees on time and doesn't see the need to inform them of the delay or update them on the status. Or someone who believes renting a mercedes to impress a new client is far more important than showing up to the meeting on time. Or someone who thinks planning a bachelor party during work time, and then having a blast with a stripper means he has stellar event planning skills. Or someone who before EVERY meeting calls you 5 minutes beforehand to tell you that they do not intent to actually participate in the call and that they hope you've prepared all the notes to present (when you've only been asked to attend to take minutes). Or someone who asks for your help in creating a contract that is due in a day, and you agree to assist but then find out they have told the client you are doing it and you learn your boss had over a month to prepare it and now the client doesn't understand why it's taken YOU so long to get it done.

    I should mention that these (and many more) qualities exist in one manager. No lie.

    So I am very envious yet excited to know that really cool managers exist. Maybe one day!

  4. Anonymous*

    I worked for a company with a so called Director of Sales and his Red Neck Counter part. In actuality he seemed more like his servant than his counter part. It was the worst job experience in my entire life. These two seemed more as if they were role playing as a King and his Servant because that's exactly how they interacted on a daily basis. Pathetic to say the least. This so called Director of Sales thought he can treat everyone as he did that knucklehead servant of his and found not everyone will tolerate that type of abuse. I don't believe in a Manager talking down to others, that is totally unprofessional and unacceptable and if you allow someone to treat you like trash they will. I am grateful I don't allow myself to be demeaned or disrespected. We all have bad days and I can understand if I had made an error and had to face disciplinary actions, but that must be done in a professional manner, otherwise this may result in a negative reaction.

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