Back to the Bully Boss

And Other Terrible Managers

Remember Gary? He filled pages of one of my work hurt journals with tales of the terrible bosses he had throughout his career as a corporate accountant. Here’s one of his stories in his words:

One boss I had hid all the notes on the new software. When the software was updated, the printed tax returns would have errors. The boss that hid the notes marked in bright red our errors on the tax returns he rejected for approval. We corrected them multiple times until he gave us a red check mark with no “x” marks. The multiple attempts to get a correct tax return boosted his ego. We would be berated for how often we could not print a tax return correctly.

Gary’s Advice on Dealing with Toxic Bosses

At the end of his journal entry, Gary switched from telling stories about bully bosses to giving advice on how to deal with them. He told me he had once read a Wall Street Journal article on bully bosses, so some of Gary’s tips may come from what he read. Here’s what he suggests.

• First, do not panic.

• Next, start looking for a new job or an opportunity to transfer to another department.

• Fake that you enjoy the meetings and the conversations with the bully boss. The bully boss will not want you to enjoy anything.

• Email yourself reminders and notes for your future benefit when defending yourself.

• Try to have a witness when you’re in conversation with your boss or put them on speakerphone and ask a peer to listen in.

• Take vacation and personal time off to detox.

• Let the company be the aggressor so that you get your severance package and unemployment.

• Be patient. There is life after a bully or toxic workplace.

Gary’s right. There is life after a bully boss. In When Work Hurts, you’ll meet several people who had toxic bosses and lived to tell about it. I don’t know if I’d classify all of their bosses as bullies though.

Seven Types of Toxic Bosses

Recently I came across an article that describes seven types of toxic bosses:

1. Premature leaders

2. Political leaders

3. Divisive leaders

4. Micromanaging leaders

5. Narcissistic leaders

6. Workaholic leaders

7. Bullying leaders

I’d rather the author called them bosses, supervisors, or managers instead of leaders because a manager isn’t necessarily a leader, and not all leaders are managers. But that’s a topic for another day. The point is that toxic leaders come in all shapes and sizes. You could combine some types and have yourself a toxic leader cocktail- yikes.

When you read When Work Hurts, you’ll have to see if you can classify each of the toxic bosses using the categories above. I kind of want to make one of those matching worksheets we did in elementary school so we can draw lines from Catherine, Mina, Laney, Doug, Suzanne, Molly, and Chris’s names to the seven types of toxic bosses. Maybe we’ll even come up with a few other categories to add to the list. Some of their bosses were total nightmares!

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Book Update

We’re just under seven months away from the debut of When Work Hurts. Here’s a recap of all that’s happened in the last few weeks:

• I met with IVP’s publicity and marketing team for the book.

• IVP showed me two options for the cover. I loved one of them and asked to see a couple of small changes.

• IVP sent my book out to potential endorsers.

• I turned in my copyedited manuscript.

• I learned that Christian Audio wants to record the audiobook.

You’ll be able to get your copy on March 11, 2025. It will be here before we know it.

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Thanks for Reading

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