I’m working for myself now and I have to admit I am THE WORST boss I have ever had. I don’t plan ahead strategically, I expect the work to be stellar but I don’t ask for help or provide the time for proper training. I sit down and I expect myself to just shit it out. Just do it, Nike style.

I’ve had some GREAT bosses, Jeff Rosenblum and Chris Daniels at the top of the list. Great bosses let you do your thing but they plan ahead for you and they utilize you, they don’t keep letting you have idle time just so you can get in trouble.

Great bosses showcase your work and give you the all the credit for it. Great bosses understand when you have family or other commitments that are just more important than work. Great bosses are hard to come by. I’ve had a 20 year career and dozens of workplace experiences as a consultant and can really only name the two.

Bad bosses, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen. They’re everywhere. They’re under more pressure than you because of their role, they’ve got deadlines and deliverables that you are not helping with or a part of, and bad bosses probably have the best intentions but they do the stupidest things, like put the work before the people.

I am the guiltiest of this. I love to work, to have something important that needs to get done and I am the one to do it. I am a workaholic, I look for meaning of my life in my work and I tell you what that is pretty unfulfilling, I mean it’s not like we’re curing cancer here people (as Jeff used to say, lightheartedly, nudging people to make a decision.)

Have you ever had a great boss?  Do you want to vent about your bad boss?  Let’s discuss in the comments…