Who was the worst boss you ever had?

Question

Please describe what made him/her the worst boss.

Answer 1

The worse bosses I have had are the ones that are not really involved in the department or company. When problems arise then they have no idea what is going on but feel like they should and try to fix things but they don't understand the problem. A lot of conflict and tension arise because of it when really just some calm and collectedness is in order. Conversely, the best bosses I've had were just more grounded with reality and had a deep respect for people. They were highly intelligent and smart. They empowered their employees by letting them know what was expected and holding them accountable. They were just involved on some level. The worse bosses were slackers and it showed. This is my experience anyway and my perspective on it.

edit: That pharmacist that Jennifer mentions sounds like one I worked with but he was just a fill-in. He was sarcastic to patients. Fortunately, I loved the pharmacists I worked with. They were great and I learned so much from them. Too bad that I didn't make it into pharmacy school because the climate changed so dramatically in a short period of time.

I would not do well if I couldn't ask questions. I've worked in some places where asking questions were discouraged and I don't understand that at all. Asking questions means you are thinking and want to do the job right. They just want you to assume and get it right. It sounds like laziness to me. But I won't stop asking questions. I care about the quality of my work. I only ask questions that I need to ask. I don't just ask to waste time. I ask to save time.

edit: Is it bad when employees think that a boss that routinely says, "I'm traveling" but has been caught in lies and the employees resent him because he's above everyone or so he thinks?   It's ok for his direct reports to work 13 days in a row but if he works more than a few days in a row then he needs a day off in addition to the weekend. Literally he doesn't get it if someone works Sat and Sun and they would like one day off during the week. He says, why do they need that? No.   Is that a bad boss?

Answer 2

Sounds like Sahara worked for my current boss! ^_^ He is by far not the worst I've had, however.

My worst boss was when I was delivering pizzas at a pizza shop in a VERY rural area. I had just moved back into the state and my brother's best friend got me the job. The boss was a 27-28 year old guy who bought the franchise. Not only was he snotty and rude to all his employees, he was downright MEAN.

If you asked him a question, or asked for help in any way, he would YELL at you and make you feel like an a*****e for asking a question.

I hit a deer my first day on the job, smashed up my front end on the deer's butt and blew out both my airbags. When I returned to work, with a smashed up car, he was like "Oh well! Go back to work!"

I should have quit right then and there. I quit about a month later. He was just terrible.

Answer 3

I worked in this nursery, and my boss would make me run errands. But the type of errands that where ridiculous. She would send me down to her car to get a bottle of water or send me to the shops to buy her lunch. There was one time where she asked me to come in on my day off to help clear out the classroom. Me and the other teachers assistant came in and our boss left and went to a BBQ it turns out. She would make such stupid requests. I ended up leaving after about a year as i was sick of being her personal slave.

Answer 4

This woman was absolutely fruit of the loom bonkers!  She was paranoid and territorial and always thought people were out to get her.  She accused me of being out to get her at one point.  She spent a lot of time out of the office for one reason or another, but somehow still had vacation time, she mismanaged company funds, but no one did anything about it.  She never had any idea what my program was actually supposed to do, but she was forever getting in the way of us doing it.  The woman was incompetent, mean and petty, and she had some sort of issue with, literally everyone who had worked there.  I took a pay cut to get away from her!

Answer 5

my mother.

"do the dishes!"

"clean your rooom!"

"do your homework!"

aaaahhhhh!!!!

Answer 6

I had a woman for a boss.

Answer 7

My  husband had surgery that  had gone longer than expected, which led to him being in ICU.  I had dropped him off on Monday morning, and went to work to keep my mind occupied.   Monday after work, I went to the hospital and was there until well after midnight.   I slept about 3 hours and then went to work.  I planned to visit him on my way home that day.  I was tired and upset.   There was a project that was overdue.  The person I was assigned to do it with and I were called into the Boss's office and screamed at, and told we couldn't leave for the day until it was completed.   I don't have a problem with getting into trouble.  I don't have a problem staying until it's done, even in the snow.     But the Boss knew about the situation with my husband.    The time to scream at us was not that day.

BTW.  The other person kept saying things like "I want to go home, I don't want to drive in the snow."  "Don't you want to be at the hospital?"  I kept saying let's just keep going.  Finally I said "Let's break for lunch.  That's reasonable."   A middle manager at that point intervened and dismissed me for the day so I could go to the hospital  and then on home.    

Answer 8

The worst and only bad boss I had was a pharmacist I worked for at a retail pharmacy.  (This was years ago.)  He was one of the reasons why I quit.

I could tell he didn't care about the patients... just the money.  He is everything I do NOT want to be when I become a pharmacist.  Know how someone makes fun of you, and if it were anyone else, it would be teasing, but you know he/she is doing it to be downright mean?  Yup.  That was him.  

The clincher happened to be when I developed a sinus infection from the stress of the workplace and my personal relationship falling apart.  I called in sick to work, and he said something along the lines of "Well, I couldn't do my hair either, but I still came to work."  Yes, he didn't believe me.  I'm quiet, polite, and a hard worker, and he didn't believe me.

I quit the next day.  That's the only time I did not give a 2 weeks notice.

That experience didn't ruin me.  I now work for another retail pharmacy chain as a pharmacy intern and plan to graduate from pharmacy school in a few years.