My supervisor is a cold, humorless, arrogant, mean little prick

[madison2000]

I hate him, and I've only been there a month. Today we had a "talk" which made me realize that its only going to get worse from here. He is micromanaging me- who I talk to, how I handle every single work interaction, the way I perform technical skills. Every single interaction I have with him is confrontational. He makes mountains out of molehills, and never has anything positive to say. My two co-workers don't get along (a problem he exacerbates by favoring one and being mean to the other) and the one who gets the short end of the stick takes out his frustrations by trying to dominate me.

After spending an hour with this guy, I felt worse about all of my work concerns than I did to begin with. He is sullen and angry with other people, as if we are all too stupid to be in his presence. He takes responsibility for nothing. He is sarcastic and selfish. People who have worked with him in the past say all he cares about is getting his own way and making himself look good.

With his social skills, he should be confined to working with inanimate objects. Instead he is in my face 8 hours a day. The job isn't worth this much stress, but I need a job.

Did I mention he's a repuke?

[ronnykmarshall]

1. Pull a "9 to Five" on him.

But it looked like skinny and sweet!

[madison2000]

3. Sorry but what's that?

[fudge stripe cookays]

20. Check out the movie

"9 to 5." Came out around 1981 or so, with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. You'll figure it out soon enough!

FSC

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. "Let's see how long...

it takes her to hogtie this sexist egotistical, lying hypocritical bigot!!!"

:D
FSC

[guitar man]

19. "I say we hire

...a couple of rounders to go up there and beat the shit out of him." :)

[kikiek]

2. Coulda guessed the repuke part. Hates his job, hates his life, takes

it out on people who work under him. Sounds typical to me!

[madison2000]

4. He never smiles. He told me he hates his job and he only smiles

when he is not at work.

[kikiek]

10. Yea his home life is probably as toxic as work. Hope you can outlast

him! If you want to.

[knitter4democracy]

5. Wow.

Maybe he's trying the "break you down, build you up" strategy. I had a principal do that to me once--made my job miserable. She wanted me to do everything the way she wanted, and so she would haul me into her office to yell at me (did I mention she's a nun?) about everything and anything. By the end of the year, I was pretty broken down and doing everything I could to find another job. Funny thing was, she ended up having to hire a teacher to replace the job I would've had if she hadn't let me go while waiting on someone else in my department to sign her contract. When the students and parents found that out, I heard later, they were furious--apparently, not everyone thought I sucked.

I would start, on the sly and not letting anyone know anything, quietly looking for another job. With this experience behind you, it should be a bit easier to get a different job. I'm sorry you're going through this. Try to do more outside of work to help with the stress.

[madison2000]

16. Doing more outside of work means spending all my free time

looking for another job. That's all I could think about today.

[Glenda]

17. The thing is though, you will start to feel more free...

as you make headway toward getting another job. It will make the current job feel not as bad is you feel there is hope getting out of it

:hug:

[knitter4democracy]

18. That was my experience.

I spent soooo many hours on the resume, the portfolio, the mailings, the calls, etc., but those hours really helped me when my principal was yelling in my face. Gave me something else to think about. I think she was suprised I found another job just days after she told me that she couldn't renew my contract.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. Ahhh yes....

I have written a book about how to be a supervisor. It is filled with examples of this kind of person. Companies don't realize how a bad supervisor can really affect their bottom line.
What are your plans? After all, he won't change so you are going to have to do something.

edited for spelling :)

[madison2000]

11. Its a shame because I worked at this company before and I loved it

I was a contractor for another agency and had no benefits so I left after 16 months. Now I am back with another agency (and benefits) but in a different workgroup. The two groups are in very close proximity and he seems to be very bent out of shape when I talk to someone in the old group.

I adored my supervisor in the old group, and people knew it, and I actually wonder if the little prick thought I would adore him too.

Anyway, I realize I need to get out of here, but I'd like to do it in a graceful enough way that it doesn't prevent me from coming back in at a later date since I really like the company.

[Jade Fox]

13. No kidding about the bottom line....

My hideous boss drove away many good people in the 3 and a half years
she had that job.

What is the name of your book, if you don't mind posting it. :)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. Rhoda?

OH...sorry...I thought you were talking about MY ex-boss for a minute.

Rhoda wanted to be Vice President. She was a Director. The "good ol' boys" network didn't want Rhoda in their clubhouse.

Rhoda sensed this. Then she proceeded to make everyone's life a LIVING HELL. Because she didn't get what SHE WANTED. She hurt A LOT of GOOD people who DID NOT DESERVE to be hurt, because SHE DID NOT GET WHAT SHE WANTED. She couldn't hurt the men who withheld it from her. She could only hurt her subordinates.

SHE DID.

Rhoda learned of a VP position in Singapore. Rhoda went half way around the frigging WORLD to get that title.

My company hired a man...as Rhoda's replacement...AS A VICE PRESIDENT.

I'm not saying Rhoda deserved what she got because she was a woman. I love women and believe they should have every chance to succeed that a MAN has.

I'm saying Rhoda deserved what she got because she SUCKED as a HUMAN BEING, REGARDLESS of her gender. INSTANT KARMA, folks.

Treat people like CRAP...treat them like they are BENEATH YOU...and what GOES around, will COME around. We don't get to witness it that often in life.

I witnessed it with Rhoda.

:toast:

[Jade Fox]

8. You have my deepest sympathy.....

I had a boss like that for a year and a half, and in retrospect I don't know
how I stood it. I knew I was in trouble when, shortly after I was hired
I found out I was the third person to have my job in as many years.

What possesses people to put some abusive psycho like my ex-boss in a
supervisory position? Its easy to see why they would want one since it
gives them official permission to act out their sickness, but there is no
excuse for hiring them.

I finally stood up to my hateful boss (like most bullies she didn't know how
to handle someone who wasn't intimidated by her) and I think that contributed
to her being demoted. However, I don't think I did myself much good. Now
people are a little afraid of me, and treat me like a bit of a loose cannon.

:hug:

[givemebackmycountry]

9. Madison...THAT is rough.

Every time I think I am doing a bad job as a supervisor, I read one of these posts and all of a sudden I'm "supervisor of the year".

I once knew a guy who hated his supervisor so bad, that he waited for weeks and weeks, until one day the supervisor was out sick or on vacation.

Then this guy took a dump in his supervisors desk drawer, and the next day all hell broke loose upon his return.

It was beautiful, he was yelling and screaming, and threatening to fire everyone. Of course, everyone in the office hated him, so no one would fess up.

Then someone (me? not me?) volunteered that maybe some self-examination was in order, because if someone would actually stoop to defecating in his desk drawer, that really says something doesn't it?

That person never got fired, but the supervisor did take another job in the company, and transferred out of our department.

Never underestimate the power of the "turd against turd" strategy"

It's da' bomb!

[madison2000]

12. Some people in the old group have told me that he makes his

performance goals relate to group projects. It makes his getting a raise dependent on getting everyone to do what he wants. In this situation its like he is ultimately trying to affect the math that measures how the group performs, but the things he points out are so petty you can't believe he has the nerve to say it.

Everyone who has had the experiencce of working with him hates him. His manager is a brand new manager who was his pal, so I dare not go there.

[Elidor]

14. It never ceases to amaze me how many companies

Appoint deranged whackjobs to positions of authority and encourage them to motivate with fear and misery.

If you can't document his behavior and file a complaint, your only recourse is to leave.

Here's something you can do to make yourself feel better: write down everything you'd like to say to him, the nastier the better. Then take it outside and burn it shortly before going in to work. In extreme cases like this, that simple act can give you enough calm to get through the day.

I'm sorry your job sucks so bad.

[lpbk2713]

21. Sounds like a real weasel but he could probably learn a lot from

the highly skilled management weasels where I used to work. The only consolation I had was knowing the managers were just as treacherous to each other behind their backs as they were to the people under them.

[seabeyond]

22. hey, hope another job comes your way soon n/t

[Deep13]

23. Exploit his weaknesses.

Stroke his ego and he will leave you largely alone. That type of personality comes from a personal sense of inadequacy. There may also be a touch of social anxiety or high functioning autism there which may explain his heavy-handed approach. (Such people often appear rude because they do not know what the informal social rules are). Cut him out of the loop as much as possible. Give him specific information as sparingly as possible and do things your way to the extent possible. Always appear busy. In small talk make sure he knows that you have a lot of things going on but be short of detail. Cultivate relationships with his support staff for when you need to get things done.

Keep your own file at home. Whenever he directs you to do something you find questionable, make sure you document your objections so he can't pin the failure on you later. Likewise, document any bizzarre or unprofessional personal habits he might have to use as ammunition later if necessary.

[NorthernSpy]

24. same way you handle Cerberus, the Threefold Dog of Hell

Keep goodies at your desk and cheerfully insist that he partake. It's hard to bite anybody -- literally or figuratively -- when ones mouth is full. And people are at their most agreeable right after eating. So, fill his mouth and fatten him up as much as possible.