Posted by denised in 
Yesterday I wrote about The five bad bosses I’ll never forget. Today I’m introducing you to number one on the list, my Powerless Power-tripping bad boss. The title should read My Powerless Power-tripping Bad Bosses because I’ve had two of these. Interestingly enough I worked for both while employed with the government. And while I know the government (allegedly) has many capable, qualified bosses, having worked at both the state and federal levels of government for years, I’ve found that layers of bureaucracy, a policy of promoting from within and a ‘stay here until I die’ mentality have left the government with more than its fair share of bad bosses – particularly those of the powerless power-tripping variety.
Why is that? In my opinion the government rewards length of service much more than it does quality of service. For that reason you’ve got highly educated, skilled employees reporting to and being pigeon holed by senior ranking government employees who are often threatened by new hires. As a consequence, Power-trippers set up shop with the intention of being removed only by death or retirement.
In my case, although I held a post-secondary degree in my field, my ideas were often stifled by my bad bosses who were more concerned with making sure that lunch breaks were exactly 30 minutes and that time slips were correctly completed. Power-trippers get lost in the minutia of day to day operations and ignore strategic planning and big picture objectives. Mine roamed the offices conducting surprise pantyhose inspections and clandestine trash can searches. Others might spend their days guarding post-it notes and pens with their lives. But the real job of a power-tripper, and where he/she excels is in serving as a constant reminder to all subordinates that they are the ones in charge.
When faced with an impossible situation like this, even the most die hard employee will eventually reach a level of frustration that forces them to look for work elsewhere. And that’s exactly what happened to me. After two years of hitting my head against a brick wall and fuming internally at the banality of my bad boss, I moved on.
Tomorrow: WOTHs aka Clueless
