Killer Bosses – 4 Types of Horrendous Bosses to Put Up With

Image Courtesy: Raja Shanmugam

Amongst all the horrible things that could happen to you at work, the worst is putting up with a devil for the boss. Imagine a boss who takes a go at you just for the fun of it, or a boss who expects his command to be fulfilled no matter how outlandish it may sound.

Here are four such devil incarnations you could be working under:

1. The Intimidating Fearmonger

If your boss passes by your seat and you feel a shiver run down your spine, then yes my friend, indeed you happen to be working for an intimidating fearmonger for a boss. Every time you see your boss coming towards your direction, you just cross your fingers (and toes) and pray to God he’s not coming to your desk, and you try to avoid eye contact or even avoid looking up from your desk.

Such a boss always uses this fear as a tool to intimidate his employees. He always has a threat ready and makes sure he follows through with that threat so that the employees remain acquiescent. A boss like this is normally a no-nonsense boss, and somewhat aggressive by nature. If he has a high turnover and an HR who has no trouble recruiting new employees as prey, he will fire employees left right and centre, to keep the fear alive.

However, such bosses don’t last that long and sooner or later rebellion or karma will surely kick in.

2. The Eccentric Sadist

This is a rather weird yet very common category of bosses. Such a boss can either be an eccentric, a sadist, or conveniently, both. Such bosses are also the unpredictable lot. At one minute they could be as sweet as honey and the next minute they could be firing you! Such type of a boss often enjoys setting up rather unrealistic goals for his employees and then takes the pleasure of publicly berating employees in public for not delivering expectations. In order to make sure the employees don’t take this as an empty threat, the eccentric boss could also end up firing the employee to cultivate the fear.

Such bosses also happen to have a very lopsided sense of humor topped up with the most irritating and annoying laugh ever. They love passing sadistic comments, often taunting and making a mockery out of employees in public. With such a boss, the best bet is to stay off the radar and wait for the inevitable employee strike to happen.

3. The Screaming Monster

As the name suggests, the screaming monster is an ogre for a boss, who just has one motive in life – to scream his lungs out. Such a category of bosses love being heard and are always on the lookout for opportunities to scream at their employees. What drives them to screaming is an interesting question. Perhaps they equate screaming to a highly effective managerial skill or maybe they get solace and peace of mind from the fact that they have scolded somebody, irrespective of whether it solves the problem or not.

A boss belonging to this category is often a favorite subject of mockery and mimicry between employees. With such a boss lurking around, you are better off going to office with a deaf ear and if you are screamed upon, just give them the recognition and attention they are after. Or maybe, you could try inventing a pair of invisible earphones!

4. The Clueless Idiot

The Clueless Idiot is yet another category of bosses that you can’t avoid. With such a boss, you often question yourself who made him the boss and finally come to a conclusion that perhaps the management had no other options available. Such type of a boss often gives speeches that are utter claptrap. He might be hardworking, but lacks leadership skills. He is clueless and stupid, and is always missing in action.

Such a boss lacks the experience and confidence to run an organization. Such bosses might be dumb and harmless, but it might prove to be dangerous for the company and other employees since the seniors in office can take advantage of the situation to infest the work environment with dirty politics and bullying. This could make life a living hell for other subordinates.

This post has been contributed by Kevin David, who is currently working for Resume Service, which offers professional resume writers in Australia. He enjoys sharing his extensive knowledge and writing articles that mainly focus on the various career options that are available.