5 Tell-tale Signs That It's Time To Break Up With Your Boss

Fact: You spend more of your valuable waking hours at work than you do anywhere else.

It is therefore critical that you spend your time in the right company, pursuing the right opportunity.

Choosing to leave a job can be a gut-wrenching decision. You need to know that you’re making the correct choice. 

Take a thought for poor Jesse Pinkman. It took him far too long to discover that Walter White was bad for his health. Walter White left Jesse’s partner, Jane, to die. Walter subsequently captured Jesse and forced him into slavery, producing crystal meth for his gang. And don’t even start me on the words “cigarette” and “ricin”…. 

Learn a lesson from Jesse’s demise. Here are the five tell-tale signs that it might be time to move on…..

Does he adopt a “them” and “us” culture?

Bad bosses put themselves above the team and create a culture where it is “them” and “us”. Are you always the last to know what’s going on at work? If you’re left out of meetings, rarely get face time with your boss along with upper management and have never even heard about the “big project” everyone else is excited about, that is bad news for your career. Overdosing on power, patting himself on the back and at one point even mentioning that he wasn’t in the meth or money business, he was in the “empire” business were all tell-tale signs that Walt had become territorial. Walt enjoyed exercising power and influence and sought to eliminate (literally) everyone who got in his way. If your boss sees you as a body filling a chair and if your instinct suggests that there is a difference between the public agenda and the “behind-closed-doors” agenda, grab your hole punch and run for the nearest exit.

Does he really know you?

To delegate and manage effectively, you’ve got to know the strengths of your people. The only way to do this is to get to know them well. It takes time and good listening skills to know each team member’s strengths and skills. Walter White did not evolve as a boss. Instead he thinks of Jesse as a pawn and turns into a psychopath as the show progresses in both his professional and personal life with everyone ultimately hating him. Walter’s ambition was to become the most hated Heisenberg. If you can pick up from a worker’s tone, body language or even an upturned eyebrow that something ain’t right, you’re a great boss. By saying, “I don’t care what’s going on at home, just do your job” is a sure fire way to lose the respect of your team and to manage an employee out of the door.

Does he trust you?

Generally employees need more than a pay cheque to feel engaged at work. They need to feel that their work has meaning. More importantly they need to feel that they have a way to contribute personally that adds value. Walter White had some major trust issues. There were times when he doubted himself too. Walter trusted people to do what they were required to do but eventually micro-managed them and was the final authority when it came to decision making. Who would want to work with such a manager? I am not saying that a boss needs to trust his workers 100%. In fact, that is a rare thing and, if you have it, it should be clung onto. However as a minimum, a boss requires to trust people with the responsibilities given to them.

Do your disagreements last longer than 24 hours?

Bosses have bad days too. Even I have bad days when my colleagues will walk on egg shells around me and occasionally close my door. Pressure might make your boss lose his temper but that shouldn’t be happening on a regular basis and disagreements should not last for more than 24 hours. Tantrums set a negative tone that can reverberate throughout the workforce.

Is the word sorry missing from his vocabulary

Humble bosses make the best leaders because they know the importance of staying grounded. They admit when things go wrong and appreciate others. One of the best pieces of advice I got during my career was when a direct report told me to “Stop being so judge-y”. Truthfully, there is no such word as “judge-y”. However that aside, I accepted (after 24 hours) that I was being too hard on this person.  Being a boss is hard. Bosses make mistakes too. The biggest mistake a boss can make is failing to admit these to their colleagues at the time. Walter was an egotist and had delusions of grandeur. In fact, Walter’s brother-in-law, Hank, says, “You and your pride and your ego. If you’d known your place, we’d be all fine right now.” Sorry should not be the hardest word.

Parting thought

Staying in a bad job for too long can be harmful to your career. If you’ve tried everything you can think of to make things better and haven’t seen any big changes, it may be time to move on.

If you do decide to leave, be smart about it. Don’t burn bridges by venting about all of the reasons why you’re leaving. That accomplishes nothing and could even haunt you later. Instead simply explain that you’re leaving to pursue other opportunities and do so graciously.

Lastly I refer back to poor Jesse Pinkman.

As we all know, Walter White was not in danger. 

He was the danger.