Do You (or Someone You Like) Work for a Horrible Boss?

If you work for a boss with an ego larger than a football stadium, I’ll bet you’re dying to get a few things off your chest. Let me help you out here—and perhaps this piece might “accidentally” end up in your boss’s inbox...

Dear Big-Headed Monster,

Deep inside, you are a good person. I say this based upon my faith in humanity, not any actual evidence you have produced.

Make no mistake, you know how to turn on the charm. You command attention. This, in fact, is your best skill.

You’ve mastered the Head Nod, Wink, Warm Smile and Handshake, and even the extremely difficult Deep Eye Gaze.

Right now, you are probably thinking that I’m mistaken. I say this not only because you always think other people are mistaken, but also because you believe your best skills include your vision, intelligence, insight, compassion, and generosity.

Not really.

Every good idea has to be yours. You steal good ideas and blame the rest of us when your lousy, horrible ideas fail.

If you find this hurtful, you now have the slightest sense of what others feel when you rip them to shreds in front of their colleagues. Only a sadist would do that, or someone who cannot control his or her emotions.

Am I calling you a sadist?

You decide. I am suggesting that the qualities that enabled you to reach your current position—persistence and tenacity plus healthy doses of greed and ego—do not equate with talent or insight.?

One day, you will no longer have a big job. When that happens, you will come to realize that people don’t like you for you; they fear you for what you can do to them. You are a handsome Godzilla, wandering the countryside and destroying lives at random. When this happens, you may develop a bit of compassion and empathy, but it will be too late.

I, of course, am merely one of your minions. I lack the courage to confront you face to face, so I dumped this irritating piece in your mailbox. No, let me amend that. I’m not cowardly; I’m wise. I’m wise enough to know that you?are never grateful for honest feedback, so there’s no point in attaching one’s name to it.

By the way, it would be great to be proven wrong about that last point.

All the best,