Is your boss a complete psycho?

You need to give us some specifics, OP.

Give her a dick, loose bowels, and a coke habit and you have the idiot I worked for. Hated by employees and customers alike, management loved him. No one can figure out why. He claims he knows all their secrets. God knows what they are.

Now when you say "psycho" do you actually mean "sociopath?"

She is completely insecure, has no friends, mean-spirited beyond belief, nasty to employees and vendors alike, yells all the time, schizo (she can go from total cunt to giggly and laughing in 2 seconds), takes credit for the work of her subordinates, constantly throws people under the bus, talks shit about employee A to employee B, then talks shit about employee B to employee A (does she think no one talks to each other??). I fucking hate the cunt.

My boss is a freak. Right after I started she jumped all over me for eating maple syrup oatmeal for breakfast. "ITS YOU! Smelling up the office!" I found out a bit later that she had stomach banding surgery; which has made her a freak around other people's food. I eat around her all the time now.

She also get on me for cycling, being in shape and being male and in a long term relationship. I think she is miserable and almost feel sorry for her at times.

My boss (who is great) was already in her current position when she hired me, but the woman she replaced was absolutely horrible.

Several people have described having to deal with her as the worst experience of their careers. Apparently, lots of people were so uncomfortable around her that they would walk the long, long way around the office, traveling 7/8 of the total possible distance, rather than the 1/8 that required passing her door.

Now, that's toxic! What a relief to have missed it.

R5 Not my boss, but the office manager is like that about food too. Total Nazi. She is also a former fatty who had stomach surgery. I avoid the kitchen like the plague.

I've worked for two psychos and my advice is to go out and start looking for another job right now. It's not worth it to stay there any longer than you have to. And you might have to quit your job, but it will be worth your piece of mind.

Last year, I worked a shitty part-time job at a college, and the guy I worked for was a professor who was 82 fucking years old and a complete ASSHOLE! This guy looked like the crypt keeper and was the stereotypical mean old man who thought he knew it all. He constantly treated people like shit and felt she could get away with it simply because he was old. NOBODY liked him. He had NO life at all and worked fulltime on the weekdays and even on the weekend. Even though he has a wife and a shitload of grandkids and great-grandkids, instead of enjoying his last years with family, he prefers working full-time just so he can make people miserable and throw his weight around.

I quit that job after a few months it was so bad.

Not psycho but definitely insincere and an insecure control freak.

I had a death in the family, and he proceeded to email the entire department that a different employee's relative died. Never got an apology for that mixup...

Likes to send meeting invites at 6:30am for 8am meetings when half our group doesn't arrive until 9...

Gives pointers on appearance and threatens to enforce appearance guidelines (including a homophobic no male ear piercings policy) despite the fact that he does not personally follow said appearance policy.

LOVES to spend time working on detailed Excel Gantt charts and project plans and then arrange multiple meetings where we sit and discuss and apparently are supposed to tremble with awe and wonder at something they now teach you to do in technical school...

Basically gets what he wants from upper management because he is a scenery chewing bastard and rather than deal with his temper tantrums, they take a policy of appeasement. So guess whose performance reviews are INCREDIBLE, he's doing everything perfect, while his subordinates, when he reviews them, are always "below average"?

MY BOSS IS A COMPLETE NYMPHO!!!

OP? You don't work in MY office, do you?

no, he's perfect. i'm very lucky

I had one who was so unpleasant, critical, and just plain cuntful that everyone dreaded her. Her specialty was rooting out minor mistakes by her lesser performers and manipulating HR into firing them.

I was, and still am, an excellent employee but when my much-loved manager got canned for nothing (and I'm certain she had some hand in it), I ended up with her.

The first week I worked for her, I got a nastygram via e-mail every single day. Many criticized things I'd done correctly--I documented everything--but was certain I was soon to go.

She despised my former manager and me, too, for rejecting her frequent advances to join her team (due to my metrics). I'm sure she finally realized it would be counterproductive to get me fired, but it was always like walking on eggshells.

She finally got fired, herself--which was widely rejoiced. Unfortunately, I could find no joy in it myself. I had ended up feeling sorry for her as she knew she was despised and HR eventually realized she killed morale.

I had one who stole from a supplier.

To cover her tracks, she called the police and had all of us investigated. During the police investigation, in their presence, she blamed the theft on our sloppiness and carelessness and directly accused the department, small as it was, on the whole. At the time I didn't know it was her, but later when I found out by stumbling across the proof, I took my information to her boss. He said the matter was closed and reopening it now would cause more trouble than it was worth.

How do these fucking cunts and dickheads even get supervisor positions in the first place?

R16 They always suck up to the people above them. They abuse everyone else and get them to do all the work. The company does not care how the work gets done they just want it done.

R17 pretty much summed it up.

Also, I think the culture in many corporations encourages vicious, competitive managers. Certainly where I work, the nice managers get the boot, while barely competent ones--who are cutthroat--get the praise.

Ironically, the company I work for is known for its "customer obsession" but the "internal customers"--the employees--are fucked over regularly these days.

Our "metrics"--I've come to hate that term--have recently been changed to lower the number, and amounts, of bonuses paid out.

It wasn't always that way. They've simply gotten greedy, and this is a multinational corporation making enormous profits.

And, no, I don't work for Apple. But we do have some inexplicable operations in Ireland, given our actual sales there.

I used to think my boss was OK, but now I'm not so sure. I'm starting to think that he hired me to be his friend because he's kind of a geek and most people get bored hearing his stupid stories, so unfortunately I'm the one who has to pretend to actually be interested in his dumb shit since he's my boss.

What's really made me think twice about him lately is that he almost seems to disapprove when talk to other people we work with, especially if it's someone he doesn't like. It's as if I'm not supposed to make friends. And the other day at a business dinner, I actually didn't sit by him (heaven forbid!), and the whole time he wouldn't even look at me AND the next day at work, first thing he does is he gives me some shitty project to do.

I'm getting weird vibes from him. Am I overreacting?

R19, this isn't remotely helpful (sorry), but I don't think you're overreacting. It sounds like your boss is weird and creepy. I'm not sure what you can do but change jobs.

I've just left a job where my direct manager was the cuntiest cunt who ever cunted (same characteristics as mentioned by many on this thread already). The relief to get away was some of the greatest of my life.

It sounds like he might be in love with you, R19. Maybe he's just too socially awkward to express it properly. Is he cute? Perhaps you should make the first move.

About 15 years ago, I was laid off from a Fortune 100 megacorporation after 20 years.

It was a bullshit layoff -- there were about 70 of us on that sweep -- and there many purges over the years I was there -- just my time, I guess.

But what struck me is the sheer numbers of great people jettisoned over the years.

Smart, innovative, proactive -- the employees corporations are supposed to seek out, foster, and promote -- these were more often than not let go.

I noticed that those left were always the heel-clickers and what I called the "jawohl-meisters."

Blind, unthinking, uncritical obedience is what was ultimately prized as one's career progressed.

I'm still on this companies tit as I draw a monthly pension.

BUT, no pensions there any more until you get to EVP+ level.

R20 OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is creepy.

R21 Good god, NO he is not cute! Plus, he's married with kids (not that being married always means someone is straight). I don't know how to explain it...I don't think he's gay, but I do feel creeped out by him. I can't explain it. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but his whole wanting to be buddies behavior is strange, especially when he pouted that I didn't sit next to him at that dinner and he "punished" me by giving me some shitty project the next day. Oh, and the way he looks at me creeps me out.

R23, does he leer at you? It sounds like he's a closeted homosexual who wants to fuck you. If he's not cute, maybe he's at least hung. Have you ever sneaked a peek at the urinal?

One company I worked at I had 20 different bosses over the years. 16 of them were fired or laid off. Someday I will tell you how I did it (no seriously, I didn't do it).

Her name isn't Hala ('whenever I have problems, I just get on a plane and go to a conference somewhere...'), is it? Stupid shit brayed loud and long about curing breast cancer forever, then quit and went to work for a bottom-of-the-fastfood-chain fastfood company.

My boss is sarcastic and ignores everyone who isn't one of his favorites. He never comes into the office. He throw out veiled threats about our jobs. He is a complete liar. Yes, I'm looking for a new job and I have one piece of advice "Never work for a not for profit"

Having worked for some seriously incompetent, profoundly disturbed supervisors, I agree that bailing is your best option. Unfortunately, in the current state of the job market leaving an abusive workplace is all too frequently not an option, and in some industries the situation is so toxic throughout that it's a matter of going out of the frying pan into the fire. My current work situation leaves some things to be desired but there's really nowhere else for me to go right now, and the benefits of staying outweigh those of leaving.

If you're in a "have to stay" situation, I suggest the following:

-Save as much money as you can and keep your eyes open for escape routes. A transfer to another department can sometimes be a lifesaver.

-Remember that the person who is toxic to you is also toxic to others and will quite likely end up being forced out or else kicked upstairs. If you get an opportunity to rat the person out for their unprofessional behavior in a way that will not rebound negatively on you, DO IT. Someone may just be waiting for the information that only you have the guts to report.

-Be scrupulous about doing your own job to the best of your ability. Be on time. Stick to the dress code (the unwritten as well as written one.) Don't steal so much as a paperclip. No personal telephone or internet use unless you're on your break and even then behave as though every conversation or keystroke is being watched, because if you're in a sick workplace it is more likely than not.

-Be happy. It drives them NUTS.

R24 That part about the urinal is not funny - there was one time that I went to the restroom and then a few seconds later he comes in and starts talking while we're both pissing! It was SO creepy! Granted, it was work-related stuff and maybe it was coincidence that he came into the restroom right after me, but still. Nobody wants to talk to their boss at the urinals! And no I did not see his cock - I don't care how big it is because he's fugly!

I'm not sure if he leers at me or not...it's not an obvious leer, but there is something that is strange when he looks at me.

Ugh, now I'm getting creeped out.

Everything you need to know about working in Corporate America you learned in Junior High School.

I have never worked in any company where I didn't feel like I was repeating Junior High School all over again. The cliques, the immaturity, the insecurity, etc.

I worked for a sociopath. He had us take personality tests all the time because he was trying to figure out what motivated us.It was a total waste of money because he could never understand any perspective but his own.

When people left it took them 6 months on average to recover.

I compared it to living with an alcoholic. He would come in and we (those of us who lasted more than 2 weeks) would wait to gage his emotional temperature before interacting with him.

On the upside suppliers were very helpful with me because they always knew the next call was coming from him.

[quote]And, no, I don't work for Apple. But we do have some inexplicable operations in Ireland, given our actual sales there.

That would be for tax evasion purposes, which is why Apple, and many other megacorps, bases their euro ops there too.

My boss isn't a psycho, but he sure is weird. He's always trying to latch onto me like he wants to be my friend (and no, I don't think he's gay - he's married and has kids). Anyway, anytime I have a conversation with another coworker, he has to jump into the conversation too. It really pisses me off. And he's always trying to be funny (in no way is he funny) saying stupid little "clever" things, and I have to fake-laugh at his dumb ass lame "jokes". He's just so weird and annoying.

I had one who was crazy in a different way. The hours were 9 to 5. When the phone rang at 8:30 and no one was there to get it, he changed the hours to 8:30 to 5. Then a call came in after 5, then after 5:30. You get the idea.

Finally he canceled lunch because he couldn't spare anyone to answer the phones. You had to order it and eat at your desk.

When the office manager wanted to hire a black woman, he said no.

He spelled ad hoc ad hock.

Looney tune.

Get this:

Because of my boss' rude, abusive, belittling, unprofessional behavior toward me (always ripping me to shreds, only behind closed doors, that is), I reported her to ER, supported by detailed documentation of said behavior/abuse.

Her response (behind closed doors, of course), "Because you did that, I'm going to work with HR to build a case against you!" (She had nothing.)

When ER/HR met with us about the "Who said What and When," she lied about what she said ("I never said that!"), and they let her.

(Company: internationally recognized financial giant; she: the 'Original Dragon Lady.')

A friend of mine worked for a judge and continually was asked to do her personal work, such as pick up her kids, act as nanny for them, and get files that were illegal for her to take for the judge's husband to look at (I think he was an attorney).

The judge was dealing with an adoption case so my friend went into her and said basically that she was so busy doing this judge's personal work that she had no time for the adoption paperwork. So the judge delayed the case.

My friend started documenting everything and keeping it on a disk. When she met with the higher-ups, they assured her that she would not be fired and they would work out some solution. The following Monday she was locked out of her office. Fortunately she had the disk with her at all times.

She sued, which was a big story in the local papers, and she won, including all her back pay and a better job.

I’m worried my boss-to-be is a psycho, and I’m considering backing out of the job I just accepted so I don’t have to deal. I really need work (been out for a couple years with depression), but this crazy woman is only offering me 15 hours a wk. for $150.

What creeps me out is how she’s been trying to set up my hours & training. She calls me every day several times to go over minor details (that she’s already confirmed) and then will only make a change to the time or something. It’s so fucking weird. She’ll also call at ridiculous times (like 10:30 PM or 7AM), ask personal questions (about my travel plans, daily activity etc.) and leave several messages on my answer if she can’t reach me immediately. She’s quite old and a small business owner so I guess I get it if her nerves are fried, but she’s being such a difficult cuntbag already that she’s causing me to feel nervous & harassed. And angry.

What sucks is I desperately need this money even though it’s a pittance, and this job is easy shopwork on a weekend 10m drive from my house. Nowhere else is hiring, not even my local coffeehouse, so I feel as if I can’t turn it down. But I want to.

What do I do, DL?

My current boss is great but many years ago I had a boss that everyone in the office referred to as Sybil because you never knew which personality you would get on any given day. Some days she was nice as pie and others she was a complete and total shrew.

Despite the fact that her office was 10 feet from my cubicle she managed via sticky notes. I'd come to work in the morning and find a whole novel's worth of instructions written out on multiple sticky notes on my desk. Heaven forbid she have an actual face to face conversation with me.

Keep looking, R37. If you need the money, take the job for a few weeks, just to see if your fears are realized, but, either way, keep looking as that does not sounds like a recipe for happiness.

I've only had one genuinely toxic boss and getting out from under him felt like (excuse the hyperbole) returning from a battlefield. I swear I had some form of PTSD for a few months. Ignorant and proudly so, publicly undermining the people working for him, demanding unrealistic schedules and refusing to listen when it was pointed out that the team couldn't deliver, refusing to listen to, well, anyone about anything, publicly yelling at and humiliating people, sucking up to higher-ups and his peers with extravagant promises about what he could make us deliver, and so on.

Supposedly, he was brought in to "fix" problems with our organization but he did nothing to learn about what those problems might be. He bragged about having fired or driven away 3/4 of the senior people in his prior organization and then proceeded to do just that with us. I was the first to go but within six months, 2/3 of the team was gone, including most of the managers and all of the senior people. A couple of months after that, his own boss had enough and fired him. Why he waited so long, I have no idea.

It sucked for me, personally, as I really liked that job and it was shaping up to be a really good career builder, all taken away almost literally overnight. I'm doing fine now but there's no question that I would have been better off career-wise and financially had someone else come in instead of him.

Thanks so much for your input R39. If I may ask; do you feel as if you’d have fared better not getting into that situation at all? Or was money too tight to turn it down at that time? I’m just trying to get a context.

I’m feeling like avoiding PTSD might be high on my priority list, given how bad my emotional state can get at times. Like I said I could use this money and a way back into work pretty bad, but not if it’s going to come at the cost of some elderly woman stalking me as ruining what tiny shred of confidence I have managed to muster. Eithr way my job search continues, I just don’t know whether to back out of this or not.

R40, in my case, I was already employed there and the psycho boss replaced my then-boss, so the situation was different. One thing that affected my judgment is that I, too, was a manager, and I stuck it out longer than I should have because I was trying to do what I could to shield the people reporting to me from the psycho. In hindsight, I should have left sooner.

Nobody really knows your true situation but you but in reading r37 and r40 again, I have to say that it sure sounds like your gut is telling you to move on. And there's no question that what this woman is doing is not normal. Either way, good luck!

If you’ve been out of work for 2 years R37, you should take this job and keep looking. Take the job and the money and leave only when you’ve found another first.

I once had a boss who was so horrible that within a year, the whole staff had turned over. I could not believe Publix allowed such a monster in their ranks but they did.

R37, take the job and keep looking. Tell yourself it will be for X amount of time, i.e. 6 months so that you can focus on the end date when things are bad. You can tolerate a lot when you know it is finite.

Now, to deal with this person, it's a game called anticipation overdrive. You have to call her at 7:30 am before she can call you. You have to be constantly checking in with her, and say reassuring things like, I'm gonna get right on it. Offer to get coffee frequently. Commiserate with her when she complains. Be effusive and complimentary about everything.

Yes it's ridiculous and no intelligent boss would fall for it but I watched a guy do this for a couple years (open office). He was hired to be the receptionist/general office assistant but the ED quickly coopted him to be her assistant. (This was a very small nonprofit, like 7 people). This guy, a nice guy, very agreeable but lazy as shit. He would come around trying to get other staff to do his work because he had so much "on his plate". Everyone knew the deal. The ED was a crazy micro manager and very insecure. (Her primary job was fundraising but she hated it, avoided doing it, telling the board she was so busy managing the staff) This guy propped her up and she thought he was the most valued employee, after herself.

So be overly solicitous and agreeable and constantly asking for her advice or opinion. This is not a real, professional job, this is a temporary situation that when it's over, you can dine out on the funny stories for months.

Bump

I had a psycho boss who in turn had a psycho boss.

My immediate was a cunt so nasty she could chew gum with her lips. She fucked me up for promotions because I did most of her work. whe she got called for a reference in the agency, she would scream, "Please take this fussy, demanding faggot off my hands."

Her boss was a psycho who had fucked every man up the chain of command to arrive at a Peter Principle Position. She fucked her way to her incompetence. And she fucked up my professional accreditation that ruined my career.

They are both dead. I need to piss on their graves. ROAD TRIP!

My boss confessed at my annual review that she doesn't feel thing for others. She said, "I see other people having feelings for each other and I don't understand" and "I think, no, I'm pretty sure if one of my children died I would feel upset".....

It wasn't surprising. She constantly criticizes and judges others (to me), particularly their looks - even though she is mid-50's and morbidly obese. She is constantly in the process of firing team members, even people who don't report to her. She micromanages.

Thing is, everyone loves her. They have no idea who she is and what she really thinks of them. My description does not begin to describe the mindfuck it is to work for her. I desperately need to find a new job but feel so mentally ground down.

March 7, 2012 I had to walk out of my job, due to a promise I made to myself that if my mental health was affected, I was to get up and get out. I liked my boss. It was unfortunate that she listened to the lies that people told her about me. The final straw, after months of being terrorized, was returning to my desk after being called in and told I'd done nothing for thirty minutes straight. Someone went in and deleted my work. When I sat back down, my hands were shaking to the point that I couldn't use the keyboard to do my work. I cleaned out the inbox, and clocked out a couple of hours later.