When You Work for Sybil…

Mar 10, 2009 Dealing with Bosses

∞ A manager friend asked me today what he should do about his new boss. Said new boss has been at the Director level for about two months now.  In conversation, he’ll give a directive for something to take place, and a week or so later ask my friend why something was implemented in a certain [...]

Office Clown or Office Bully?

Feb 13, 2009 Dealing with Bosses, Problem Behaviors

∞ A freshly-promoted (congratulations!) reader writes: One of my employees is always out for a gag.  Not a day goes by that he hasn’t taped someone’s mouse, removed a key from a keyboard, or left a surprise of some kind in someone’s desk drawer.  We all thought it was kind of amusing for a while, but [...]

SuperGlue is Not an Office Accessory

Feb 7, 2009 Dealing with Bosses

∞ Certainly not where your lips and my ass are concerned. I would love to hear from a manager who actually likes suck-ups.  I’ve never had the pleasure of working with one, but I know they’re out there.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve brought in a new hire who finds it surprising when, [...]

Managing Up

Jan 21, 2009 Dealing with Bosses

∞ So many people complain about their bosses these days.  I heard from one of my management staff today why people don’t complain about me - I do most of the managing up for them. Case in point: one of my newest team members came to us from an environment where constant status updates were the [...]