Posted by denised in 
The idea for Really Bad Boss came to me after a particularly frustrating day at work. I came home angry and annoyed, asking myself the same questions I’d been asking for the past few years and over the past two or three bosses – “Why am I working for this idiot?”, “How? How is he allowed to be in charge of anything?!” And, I wondered, how on earth he’d gotten the position he’d gotten, with all its accompanying power and influence. How was he able to sneak in under the radar?
The worst part was, my experience with this company wasn’t an isolated one. I thought about the VP of a former company, who within six months of being hired was drunk off his skull, dirty dancing on a table at the Christmas party. He “resigned”, bonus intact, about a week later. Or the CEO who, during an annual sales meeting, opted to complete a crossword puzzle, as the owner and board members discussed the uncertain future of the company. And of course, I’ve already mentioned in several posts, the VP who fondly referred to the Jim Jones’ cult and its members’ mass suicide as the ultimate in company loyalty. I can’t get beyond the fact that the same stringent screening process that had me in a three part interview that stretched over a four week period, and that can disqualify an hourly worker for having bad credit, can’t detect a pension for crossword puzzles, an affinity for cults or an alcoholic? Ok, maybe that’s asking a bit much, but who are the gatekeepers letting these people in? Has anyone checked them out? Why does it seem that those with the most responsibility and the most power have the least ability to use them effectively? And why are the rest of us beholden to them? – think AIG, Congress, the SEC…
Webster has several definitions for the word boss including; a young cow, a person who exercises control or authority and a protuberant part or body. While I’ve had bosses who fit into all three categories, I like the definition of a boss as being anyone who exercises control or authority. By that definition, bosses aren’t limited to the workplace. From politics – think Rod Blagojevich and Elliot Spitzer, to Business – think AIG, Bank of America, to Government - there’s too much wrong going on there to list here, to entertainment, sports, I could go on and on. In fact, in our own lives, we’re bosses over our own choices and decisions…
Which brings me to why I launched Reallybadboss.com. I wanted to create a space for people to share their really bad boss stories and more importantly how they got through them. These days with unemployment levels hovering at near double digits, I think many of us feel stuck. Stuck in jobs we may or may not like, but worse, stuck with bosses we neither like nor respect. What got me through the last few months with the last really bad boss were friends, laughter and sharing stories with people who were in the same boat as I was.
I want us to hold a mirror up to the really bad bosses around us, examine their behavior and do the exact opposite of what they’re doing. I want Reallybadboss.com to be the place where we learn everything we can from the situations we’re in, and maybe have a laugh or two while we’re at it.
