Tag Archives: tough bosses

Touchdown with a Bad Boss – Week 4

Tackle-boss-1Here are the final bad boss solutions for week four of our Touchdown with a Bad Boss contest! Voting will now begin to determine the favorite story of the 12. The person who receives the most votes will win the grand prize. Learn more about this contest.

Who will win? Review all 12 finalists and vote today for your favorite!


The Power of HR
Tracey's company was rolling out a new program when she noticed it being communicated to clients before the staff. She brought this to her manager’s attention and was instructed that it wasn’t a primary program and didn’t need to be communicated to the staff. Shortly afterwards, her manager apologized for her curt response; however an hour after that, Tracey received a formal write-up for presenting this oversight to her manager. The situation continued to escalate as Tracey was unable to communicate with her boss or receive support from the vice president of her area. Tracey then chose to seek the help of her human resources (HR) department to resolve the situation. Throughout the process, Tracey continued to work with the HR department to improve the relationship with her manager. It is a great idea to seek the advice of your HR department when warranted. Everyone has an expertise in the workplace, and HR’s is the employee-employer relationship.

Family Intervention
Charlie’s boss was known for disappearing from the office when the going got tough, which left the decision making in the hands of his employees. Then, when things went wrong, he would promptly blame the employees for making decisions without him. This went on until a position came open within the company. Recalling that the boss’ wife was looking for work, Charlie called her up and suggested she apply. She was hired, and as it turned out, the boss stopped disappearing. Apparently he would rather stay at work and make decisions than explain to his wife, whose office was just down the hall, why he was leaving work!

Perseverance Pays Off
One morning, Clarence went to work and found that everything had changed. His immediate supervisor had unexpectedly passed away, leaving a void in the company’s leadership. As corporate worked to fill the empty position, they asked Clarence to take on the extra responsibilities for a while, which he gladly did. A few months later, when a new manager was brought on board, everyone was excited to return to normal. However, the leader proved to be incompetent, causing chaos and resulting in poor performance. Clarence tried to communicate the problems to upper management, but no actions were taken. A year went by and nothing changed. But, Clarence stayed focused on what he could affect. He worked to change what he could and he made sure to offer solutions when problems arose. Finally, the truth came out and leadership changes were made. No one got a raise or a medal, but Clarence had the satisfaction of knowing he handled the situation well. “Every person in the chain has responsibilities,” Clarence said, “and how you handle those duties will be ultimately revealed, good or bad.”