Love Your Job—but Hate Your Boss?

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johnny of CA 1:02PM June 10, 2011

if you hate your boss, i would form a union, a union stops a lot of the abuse management places on the worker.

johnny of CA 1:00PM June 10, 2011

I HATE MY BOSS TOO . HE ALWAYS PUTS ME DOWN EVERY TIME HE GETS A CHANCE AND YELLS AT ME IN FRONT OF CUSTOMERS . I CANT SAY ANYTHING BECAUSE I DONT WANT TO LOSE MY JOB, BUT I HATE MY JOB AND IAM SO DEPRESSED BECAUSE OF IT . I CANT EVEN WAKE UP IN THE MORNING ANYMORE TO GO TO WORK . I FEEL THAT MY JOB IS TURNING ME INTO ANOTHER PERSON , A VERY MAD AND BITTER PERSON. I WORK FOR A SMALL COMPANY THAT IS OWNED BY ONE OWNER , SO I HAVE NO ONE TO TURN TO . WHAT SHOULD I DO ? ANY SUGGESTIONS ?

ANGRY PERSON of CA 12:25AM June 14, 2010

I've worked for my employer for 14+ years. Last year there was an "advancement opportunity" for a supervisor position. No one else in the ranks showed any interest so i applied. In the mean time we got a new boss who interviewed me. I was lied to for four months, being told the position was on hold and other lies. I finally withdrew my application. A month later my new boss hired a little friend of his from somewhere he had worked before. He has no clue and is nothing but a suck up. My boss is a jack ass too. Luckily he seems to change jobs every couple years, so maybe he'll leave and take his friend along.

Ward of VT 4:04AM December 24, 2009

My boss likes to control everything. I work for a small company so I have many different jobs. I am HR/IT/Office Admin. When she introduces me she calls me her assistant, yet she is the finance person in the company! She knows nothing about HR or IT and tells everyone she is the IT Manager. She also like to cause trouble within the company and is always the first to talk down about another manager, because I work with her people think I agree with her and it causes trouble for me.

Jennifer Burke of NC 8:28AM December 14, 2009

I completely understand. My boss is very talented, but is over analytical and picks out every little thing that I do, but never compliments me on what I do good for the company.
For example, I just threw an event that was very successful. People are writing on our website about how great it was and I am also receiving cards. I was over budget by $50.00, but I saved $600 on the room rental. There was no way I could have done it for any cheaper, considering there were over 200 people at the concert....
Anyway, I am soooo sick of it. I feel like the next time she does it, I will snap.
I KNOW I am doing a good job, but am not sure how to handle when she does this. Any suggestions? By the way, we are both single and close to 30.

Jeanelle of OR 7:40PM June 10, 2009

I have been dealing with a tyrant of a boss for over 2 years now. I have worked for this company 10 years and have had my share of bad bosses with this company and others, but this guy takes the cake. For some reason, he finds pleasure in belittling me and tearing my confidence down in my abilities. He nit picks me to death and nothing I do is ever good enough. This is ironic considering that the overall level of satisfaction amongst my customers is high and also with my colleagues. The statistics also show that I have been improving month after month, but he always has to find something to tear me apart about.
I think companies should not only evaluate a person's ability to do the job but should also evaluate their personality flaws. He knows it destroys me inside every time he calls me in the office to tear me down. He thrives on it. I try so hard to not react the way he wants, but sometimes it is just more than I can bear.
I would love suggestions. I have always loved my job and working with customers and I am good at it, but more and more I am beginning to hate my job because of my boss. I want so badly to quit, but I can't afford to. He is making my professional life a living hell, he knows it and he loves watching me squirm.
I am sick of it! When I try to stand up for myself, he uses it against me. What do I do?

not telling of KS 7:38PM April 02, 2009

I work as an executive assistant for a very senior level executive at a major firm in NYC. I recently advanced into this position and thought it would be a great position to develop new administrative skills. How wrong I was. The boss' wife has nothing better to do than call all day and when she can't speak to her husband, she expects me to chat with her. Now I try to be cordial and offer the "hi, how are you" exchange of chat, but the truth is I could care less about getting to know her or listening to her compalin about her day. I have work to do, phones to answer and meetings to attend. It has become a problem over the past 6 months and I do intend on finding another positon, I am just waiting to find the right one and this is a tough economy to look for another job. When I interviewd for this position it was not disclosed that the wife would be calling all day... I don;t think she realizes how pathetic she is. I think if you are going to marry someone who is a work-a-holic and travels all the time you need to also realize you are going to be alone all the time... the wives are always so curious of the husband's assistant.

work wife of NY 9:32PM January 28, 2009

I have to agree with the first comment on this topic. Companies do not thoroughly test individuals for their leadership roles.
An example would be the previous boss that I had. I didn't see him a lot, but when I needed something I could easily contact this individual and they were right on task. If you had a concern the individual would work to resolve it. Granted, we had some issues in the beginning, but we learned how to deal with one another and make our interactions easier.
The boss I have now is a sharp contrast. They are the boss and that is how it is. End of story, especially when things aren't going at peak capacity, expects me to deal with issues of my peers a lot more heavily than I should, and even 'jokes' around in a confrontational manner. Only to add 'I'm just kidding' right at the end. As though it is a fail safe. - Obviously an individual unable to handle the position. It is at a level where I no longer enjoy my job. All based on what I have to deal with from him and not the actual tasks associated with the job itself.

of IL 8:21AM October 23, 2008

In my lifetime, I have learned that "my immediate first-line boss IS my job"; regardless of the rest of the line, if the first level is bad, it is all perceived to be equally bad. Most corporations fail to realize that if I have a bad boss, I have a bad job, and thus work for a bad company. They can sponsor all of the CEO worship that they want, but this fact still stands.
Oh yes, and just try going over the first-line's head. Sure!
I find it amazing that my first-line rates me on my job, but I never heard of my second-line rating my first-line. Some companies have the employee opinion program, but too few of them seem to really pay attention to the surveys.
When a project failed, I did what I was told, how I was told, with the tools that I was given. Therefore, I was commanded a task that I couldn't skillfully handle, or else I was commanded in error. When a project doesn't succeed, someone needs to look beyond the workers.
All people and all corporations need to realize one fact of human nature -- Not all people can handle authority. When a boss is put over another person, even just one, that boss should be monitored and evaluated. At the first sign of not handling authority, there should be a discussion and improvement session, or a move to a non-authority position. Corporations lose too much when experienced people leave, and the next one ... How many must go before they realize that the bad egg is over the group, not one of the group?

gary of TX 2:56PM July 01, 2008