This one is about a week late in coming, and it’s technically 44 tools…but we’ve got to give it to the group we now refer to as the New Jersey Massive.  The NJ Massive includes Rabbi’s, assemblymen, mayors and a host of other elected and appointed officials allegedly involved in crimes ranging from money laundering to human kidney selling.  The turnpike isn’t the only thing that stinks in New Jersey. Shalom.

Former Senator, Larry Craig - Forging new pathways...feet first

One of our favorite really bad political bosses and airport bathroom loitering, toe tapping, under-stall hand swiping senators, Larry Craig, is opening his own consulting firm. 

New West Strategies is… “Forging Pathways to Better Gov….gljersskg… Government ”  Sorry, I was laughing so hard, my head hit the keyboard.   Forging pathways to better government, really?  By lying about your lifestyle, playing the victim, and then suggesting the world misconstrued your actions?  Yeah, good luck with that. 

We’d like suggest a pathway few politicians know about…it’s the pathway of truth.  We hear the path is narrow, yet rewarding.  Somehow though, we think New West Strategies will opt to forge pathways by: 

• Publicly denouncing a lifestyle, while secretly living it
• Teaching clients how to successfully fool absolutely no one, except for their wives, into believing their stories about what they did and did not intend to do in a public bathroom
• Especially for politicians – Giving lessons on how to get your wife to stand behind you no matter what you did
• And finally, how to get PAID and re-elected after public humiliation and forced resignation. Special consultant – Marion Barry

We’ve said time and time again, if only we could rebound from lies, cheating and scandal the way these politicians do.  In the real world, really bad bosses like Craig and his ilk would be joining the ever growing unemployment lines across the country instead of opening businesses  and being offered reality television shows.

These politicians are keeping me busy. Last week while I was lollygagging about up north minding my own business, yet another Senator admitted to having sexay times with someone other than his wife, practically begging me to write about him here. 

This time the senator was 47 year old Paul Stanley (R-TN), and his “indiscretion” was with a 22 year old intern.  The conservative Republican (of course) and abstinence only supporter (of course, of course), admitted to having a sexual relationship with his intern.  After much soul searching the senator decided to come clean because his conscience wouldn’t allow him to continue with the hypocrisy.  NOT.  What really happened was the intern’s boyfriend got a hold of some nudie pictures the senator took of his girlfriend and tried to blackmail him.  It was only then that the Senator saw the light and fessed up about the affair to local authorities, stopping the blackmailer in his tracks.  The boyfriend is now charged with trying to extort $10,000 from the senator.  And the senator has joined our growing list of political Really Bad Bosses.

As if the whole sordid tale wasn’t bad enough, guess how Stanley met his current wife? You guessed it, she was once his intern.  Read the entire hot mess of a story here.

Update: the senator is resigning - does not fancy himself  King David.

Rabbis, Assemblymen and mayors oh my…

44 arrested in NJ probe (Louis Lanzano/Associated Press)

Last Thursday the floodgates opened and in the fragrant state we call NJ, over 44 people – in charge in some form or another of other people – were arrested in connection with a sweeping corruption and money laundering probe.  Included in the arrests were:

• 5 rabbis
• 3 mayors
• a host of assemblymen
• fire inspectors
• and a partridge in a pear tree. 

There is so much wrong with this picture, I don’t know where to start.  From illegal fundraising, to knock-off Gucci bags to black market kidneys – yes black market kidneys –  this thing runs the gamut. See a list of some of the Really Bad Boss wannabees and their crimes here.

Update:  Charges against the partridge were eventually dropped.

Keihin Express Railway Co. employee Mitue Endo checks her smile. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

 

Wanting to ensure their employees smile “enough” when greeting customers, Japanese company Keihin Express Railway, installed a monitoring system that helps employees check their smiles before greeting customers.  The software, installed at 15 of Keihin’s 70 stations, is optional for employees to use, but company officials say the system allows employees to check their expressions before meeting the public, resulting in a better customer experience. 

No word on the progress of a meter that reads workers thoughts about their employers while being forced to perform ridiculous tasks like smile checking.  At least Keihin isn’t forcing employees to stand or race down hallways to save money.

Read the full smile-o-meter story here.

Last week in Part I of dealing with a Really Bad Boss we advocated taking the high road because as difficult as it can be, rising above the noise and nonsense of a really bad boss can result in unparalleled personal and professional growth. Today in part 2, we’ll list five reader submitted, time tested suggestions for helping you do just that.   The key to surviving a really bad boss is tackling each day as it comes. Hopefully these tips will help you do that:

1. Work as though you have the best job and the best boss in the world– Cruel I know, but it works. Take it from me. Much like a relationship, when the thrill is gone from a job (if it was ever there to begin with) it’s really hard to make an effort, especially when the person on the receiving end is an ungrateful, unyielding, good for nothing… umm…boss. The truth is, when you bring your A game to every assignment, every meeting, every challenge, regardless of whether or not your boss notices, you’ll develop exceptional skills that will work wonders for you when you eventually move on to the job and boss that are perfect for you.  In your new digs, when everyone’s crumbling under pressure because the boss has a hang nail, you, having survived the incoherent ramblings of an intoxicated CEO, will be the picture of calm productivity, and for that, you’ll be elevated to rockstar status.
2.  Know you’re probably smarter than she is, and she knows it– Knowing you’re the smartest person in the room can provide you with a quiet confidence that belies your current circumstance.  As employees railed against mistreatments and the ridiculous antics at the hands of our really bad and stupid boss, I plugged away diligently at the tasks at hand, convinced that the degree hanging over her desk had been purchased from the nearby Goodwill store. When she created her own private system of mathematics rather than owning up to an error in her calculations, she confirmed my suspicions.  Her frustration upon being confronted with the error and her anger that she’d been found out, had me smiling widely…on the inside.  Which brings me to the next tip…
3. If you need your job, don’t let your boss know that you know, just  how bad he really is – In fact it’s a good idea not to discuss your boss’ shortcomings with colleagues either.  With the exception of Human Resources (except if your HR Manager is Mary), discussing your boss’  lack of mental ability at work is a bad idea.  Read the rest of this entry »

This was a short week, not for lack of really bad bosses, but because I was travelling. So here’s some of this week’s bad behavior in a nutshell.

• Seven ridiculous lies and the politicians who told them – from the all time classic “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” to Blagojevich’s calling on the Lord to hide his actions. Good stuff.
• My summer of living bosslessly – The blessings of being bossless for once in my life.
• The road less travelled – The first in an installment series designed to help those of us with a really bad bosses, get through it – one day at a time.
• Five rabbis, two mayors and a host of assemblymen walk into a bar… actually, they all got arrested in NJ for various and sundry acts of crime. Read the full story here, and stay tuned for Really Bad Boss’ take on the whole fiasco next week.