JournalInquirer.com

Why are there so many bad bosses out there?
CT@Work
By Leo Canty
Published: Thursday, October 15, 2009 1:07 PM EDT

Friday is National Bosses Day. Let me do my part by giving a big cheer for bosses on their special day. If it weren’t for a lot of them we probably wouldn’t have as many labor laws, labor departments, unions, and bad-boss Web sites.

Among America’s massive army of bosses, there are plenty who use their power appropriately to motivate, encourage, and support their charges in thoughtful and productive ways. They’re the ones you will see all over the place tomorrow — at lunches and happy hours laughing it up with their staffs. They get to enjoy their fawning moments and expressions of gratitude then.
No need for me to do it here.

I want to send cheers to the ones that probably won’t be getting lunch or doses of flattery. Here’s to the bosses whose knuckles drag along the ground as they visit your duty station regularly to remind you who is the boss. They’re whip crackers, constantly pushing for more output with less reward. Let’s give a shout out to those sociopaths that love to make you shudder in your boots, fear for your job, and keep that knot in your stomach nice and tight well after you punch out. They ratchet up workplace tension to ulcer-producing levels and have you asking yourself every day if you’re going back tomorrow.

Bad bosses are common, and chasing ways to deal with them commonplace. Do a “bad bosses” Google search and up comes 19.9 million Web references. There are scads of horror stories and even more sites offering consolation and advice. Canmybossdothat.com, in particular, offers some interesting assistance on ways to relieve bad boss afflictions.

What do you do if you have a bad boss? Quit?

Unfortunately, jobs in downturns can seem more valuable than sanity. If you leave, where do you go? The unemployment rate’s trending up toward 10 percent. Sure, go tell the bank, utilities, car dealer, and grocer, “My boss is a heartless, primal jerk, so I quit my job. Can I just, like, skip my payments for a while till I find a nice boss?”

Nope.

If you’re among the oppressed who can’t quit, rest assured you are not alone. A poll conducted by Lake Research for Working America (www.workingamerica.org) suggests that more than 50 million workers say they feel so pressed by the economy they’d rather suck it up and stay than quit because of a bad boss.

In the 150 million-member American work force, that means at least one out of every three workers won’t be lunching on burger-bites with the higher-ups Friday. They’ll more likely head out to TGIF happy hours with co-workers to beef about their bosses instead.

In times such as these, we all wish workers and bosses would bond in a more supportive and united all-in-this-together mode. But it’s not working that way. The bad times seem to be transforming way too many bosses into “dysfunctional, disrespectful, dishonest, demonic dictators,” as one Web site puts it.

The sad part about it all is that productivity is not enhanced with primal behavior and work force whippings. It is reduced. Yet too many of those in charge, or almost in charge, still harbor the belief they can intimidate, threaten, abuse, or disrespect people to get the job done.

Think about it. There is no rocket science here. Most humans need support, coaching, feedback, encouragement, and sometimes a simple “please” and “thank you” to make things work better. Some employers have even figured out that improving wages and benefits works wonders for morale and production.

Go figure.

Leo Canty is a labor and political activist. He lives in Windsor.