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The Bad Boss - Short, Fat, and Balding
I worked for three weeks as an administrative assistant in a small Air Conditioning Servicing
Company. My boss was the nastiest man I have ever met. Nothing I ever did was correct; he
would listen in on my phone calls (all business) by hiding behind a pillar in the office
and did not allow me to eat lunch at the same time as other employees in the company.
The final straw for me was the day that he told me; "you would be a much cuter girl if you
just lost some weight."
I was subsequently fired when I responded that "I may not be thin, but I can lose
weight and you will always be shorter than I am and your hair will not grow back."
He asked me to leave immediately and I gladly packed my things and left.
The Bad Boss - The Sicky
I worked, as a secretary, for the V.P. of Finance. This guy had the manners and social
skills of a gnat. One afternoon (after only working there for about four
days) I was sitting in his office taking dictation and doing the "to do"
list and right in the middle of speaking he picked up his trash can and vomited in it.
He put his head way in deep; however, I still knew what was happening. I got up to
leave (to give him some privacy) and, with his head still in the trash can, motioned
for me to sit down he would be "just a minute" Yuck!
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The Good Grateful Boss and Employee
I am a middle-aged woman working as an Administrative Assistant. I was recently offered
the opportunity to advance in my company by becoming the assistant to the National Accounts
Director; however, along with my duties to this new boss, I would continue to have
responsibilities to others in my office. I accepted the position, but I was nervous
about a few things: first, I was concerned because my new boss was 25 years younger
than I am, and she is a woman. I had never worked for a woman before, let alone a
much younger one, and I honestly hadn't heard any great "boss stories" from anyone
who had! My second concern was the division of my duties.
Well, let me tell you, all of my fears were groundless. My boss is a dynamo.
She works very long hours and does very detailed and technical work, but she
never forgets to tell me how much she appreciates me. If I have stayed on long
after my regular eight-hour day she thanks me profusely and has even treated me to
dinner. She often will come to me with photocopying jobs, and upon finding me busy
with other peoples' work, she just rolls up her sleeves and does it herself - she's
not above doing "menial" tasks! She is a real team player, and sees our work as
"our work" rather than a division of duties.
She is a true example of one who leads by example. I am proud to work for her
and with her, and I
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believe that the fine working environment she creates enhances
the quality of work we produce.
A Family of Good Bosses
I work for a family owned business. I consider anyone in the family my boss because each is an owner.
In the scope of "mom & pop" type businesses, we are fairly large. We have over 80 employees.
When the family owner-managers at my company get wind of unhappy employees they make changes
not just for that individual, but also for the whole company. They keep up to date on other
businesses and institute programs when they apply.
For example, my boss read about local corporations providing low cost nutritious food as a way to
keep employees happy and instituted an upscale deli with reasonable prices and the option to have
the cost taken out of your check. Since they instituted this, I no longer work through my lunch because
I don't have to go anywhere. I don't go hungry which can affect my work performance.
Also, there was some dissatisfaction and grumbling about whose pockets the profits were going into. My
bosses instituted open-book management policy. Now all company income and expenses are reviewed in
monthly meetings. They aren't keeping any secrets, which makes me feel like a bigger part of bottom line.
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Some of the differences may be what you'd expect. In large companies employees
feel more distant from management. Fewer of them have confidence in management,
believe they can trust what management tells them, or feel they are valued.