Bosses are an essential part of every workplace. A good boss leads with optimism, transparency and integrity. But not all bosses are the same. The reality is that there are many types and traits of Bosses existing in workplaces, far beyond the caricature we see in cartoons or movies:-
The Mr. Right Boss:- The mantra in every workplace is that the boss is always right. Yes, this is the most dangerous unwritten rule that we follow in the workplace. If your boss has a fragile ego, then you have probably found yourself in this familiar situation. Even if logic and evidences are on your side, being the boss, apparently, is enough validation to debunk any other arguments. They often tend to hide behind a facade and focus more on using their authority to prove he or she is the boss. Somehow, they have the power of concealing their own mistakes and shortcomings.
The Workaholic Boss -: It’s a sunny morning, and you arrive at work with a smile on your face. But then you get to your desk, start getting through your e-mails, and your face twists. You realize that your boss has left you to take care of another one or two of those long, annoying and trivial tasks that would be actually insignificant. If only, Bosses would let their employees breathe for a while. But instead of doing that, they keep piling up pressure on you until you eventually break down. It is very difficult when you have a workaholic Boss and he expects you to be one too. Nothing makes a job miserable than having a boss who particularly has no qualms about overworking their staff.
The Unhappy Boss-: There is nothing worse than being stuck working for someone who is never ever happy with your work. Many a times, when you are about to call it a day, your boss will remember that unfinished report which he never ever bothered since last two years, but suddenly it becomes important and necessary to finish that day itself kyunki duniya kal khatm hojayagi [the world is going to end tomorrow]. But to call everything important means in reality nothing is important. Bosses are impossible creatures who are never ever satisfied with your work which is something one has to accept. I always smile and nod while my boss gives me ‘constructive criticism,’ but all I am really doing most of the times is thinking why the hell I am working here. Feeling unappreciated or like you are constantly being taken advantage of at work is not good. Whether that means working ridiculous hours, inhaling lunch or skipping it altogether and even sacrificing your weekends, can be taxing on both your career and home life.
The Selfish Boss-: They will always butter you, how you are so hardworking and give you more and more work. If you are good at your work, your boss will be so happy that instead of giving a raise in salary, he will gift you by giving other employee’s work to finish. Sometimes, I feel getting my work done early just means being rewarded with more work.
The Inconsiderate Boss:- Some bosses are so inconsiderate that they will fix up a meeting at 6 pm. Their day and brain start in the evening. They are continuously stuck up on their chair after office hours just like a Dosa is stuck on a stubborn Tawa.
The Cribbing Boss:- Bosses always crib about the company having no business and how he is about to close down especially when the employees ask for a salary hike. Also some bosses have selective hearing, especially during salary talks.
The Unkind Boss – Suddenly you become an essential to the company when you ask for a holiday or half day. He will give you 20 more random tasks to complete just as you are about to leave, especially on days when you are counting down the minutes until you get off work. The last thing you need is a pile of paperwork that, according to your boss, simply cannot wait until tomorrow kyunki duniya kal khatm hojayagi [the world is going to end tomorrow]. Whether it is a rainy day or even if a Tsunami comes, bosses have truly unrealistic expectations. Bosses be like: “You’ are still coming to work, right?”. Come rain or shine, they expect you to be at work, IN TIME, no matter the circumstances. They think we employees have “Sanjivani Buti” every day. No matter how important you think you are, if a bus hits you today, tomorrow they will be hiring someone new and that is a fact. You may think your company can’t do without you….but the reality is: it can.
The Credit Boss – Another favourite trick of bosses is to suck up all kinds of favours from their employees and take credit for all the hard work done by them, stealing their ideas and presenting them as their own, thus reaping the benefits from your hard work. Meanwhile, you haven’t received a salary raise or a “Thank you” from him! Boss be like “Please submit your ideas to me today so that I can submit them as my own tomorrow”. Employees certainly are discouraged when Bosses steal Recognition for their work or ideas.
The Mr. India Boss – In every office, there is always a boss who is never there. They are always double booked for meetings, running from “important thing” to “even more important thing” and on the rare occasion you see them in the flesh they have a phone to their ear and a line of people waiting outside their cabin. They are so hard to get to, sometimes employees squeeze their way in for chats on the boss’s way towards bathroom, the conference room or their car. For some bosses, the office is just a stop in between their meetings or parties. They never stick around to have any chats with the staffs, let alone check the performance or growth of the company or respond to staff mails.
The Hypocritical Boss – There are some hypocritical bosses who will always say – our company is a happy closely knit family, we are not just a team, but a family. Families are permanent. They are bound by emotion, not contract. At home, love is assumed. At work, it is not. A workplace is a place of contribution, not identity, and when a workplace starts sounding like family, it often brings confusion, blurred roles and misplaced expectations.
The Detective Boss:- This is a special breed of human who believes that if they aren’t monitoring how many times you go to the washroom, productivity will crumble down. They track when you are online, how long you take to respond to an e-mail, and probably even count the intake of tea / coffee or water you take.
The Confused Boss:- Bosses ask for one thing, wait until you’re nearly done, then ask for something else. If you’re expecting that this time they’ll require no changes, your bad day at work is about to get worse. Most of the work that Bosses give are just waste of time. The employees take 2-4 days to complete the task but all you hear from your Boss is “Why did you waste your time in this? I need the file in A format and not B format”. When you do it in “A” format, he will ask you to do in “C” format. When you do it in “C” format, he will ask you to do it in “D” format and so on and on……………. Finally, “B” format what was initially done by you will be approved.
The Disinterested Boss:- It’s been a long time and your boss still make you wait for a meeting which is actually scheduled for 4 pm and it is already 7.30 pm, but he is busy watching a football match. You are tired, you have a deadline and your annoying co-worker won’t stop talking about her favorite period drama…such bosses are real headaches. You spend countless hours preparing for a meeting that will only be delayed, cancelled or misrepresented by your Boss, simply because he is not bothered.
The Bizarre Boss:- Some bosses have a unique way of talking. My Boss uses the “So and So language” such as “Email So and So and ask him to give some discount” or “ Call So and So and inform him to book a flight to So and So at So and So time” or “Usko Documents Dhe Dho” or “Isko Phone Karo”. But yeh “Usko” means “Kisko”. He expects us to understand his language as we are working with him since a long time. Hearing his ““So and So language” makes me forget my own English.
The Poor Communication Boss:- Some boss do not communicate properly. They speak in codes. Once my Boss sent me a file with a note “UDN”. I didn’t understand what he meant. It seems he wanted me to discuss the file with him and “UDN” meant “urgently discuss now”.
The Bully Boss:- In many offices, the staff is not allowed to sit in Boss’s cabin. They are made to stand, listen to his nonsense talks, clear documents standing while the Boss sits comfortably in his Chair. The boss must understand that we are humans and have legs of bones and not Iron rod legs fixed with Ambuja Cement. They also yell at you, dressing you down in front of other workers. Even passing by his cabin makes you cringe. The bullying may take place in person or via email. Either way, you hate working for this person and want to leave.
The Discouraging Boss:- When a boss keeps a “good employee” , his own life is made so much easier by the employee. The boss knows the job will get done and done well. No extra staff will have to be appointed or trained. It’s great! For the boss, that is. For the employee, you don’t grow at all — and your boss holds you back because you’re too good. They will never inform you of any appreciation mail sent for you by your clients. Such discouraging Bosses may try to restrain you from working with other people, give you dull reviews or recommendations to keep you with them, thus leading to your efforts being taken for granted. There are some who consistently shoot down ideas that aren’t their own, resist change and hold staff to impossible, vague standards. Thus, employees are discouraged to bring up new ideas as their inputs are not valued, thus holding the employee’s growth
The Moody Boss:- Sometimes, I feel my Boss’s mood controls the office atmosphere. If he had a fight at home, then he takes out the entire frustration on the staff as he has no voice at home.
The ‘OK, Let’s Call A Meeting!’ Boss:- Meetings are called to discuss and solve the issues. Most Bosses will call a meeting at the drop of a hat and then rip every iota of context from it so that it has no value back to the employees or the company. My boss frequently calls for court meetings in his cabin and does a post-mortem of every microscopic issue in the office, be it even if the broom in the office is not proper or the brand of the tea / coffee or the quality of the dustbins in the office.
The Narrative Boss:- Such Bosses creates their own narrative just to prove themselves right and mentally harass the employees. They are very good script writers and can certainly give a boost to Bollywood.
The Unpredictable Boss:-Such bosses can go either way. One day they may be nice and friendly at work and the next, they may have a mood swing and be mean and strict about your work. With them being unpredictable, this may lead the employee to be uncomfortable at work because they never know what their boss will be like next. The employee may think it is okay to do one thing at work, then get reprimanded for doing the same thing because their boss has mood swings and is unpredictable.
The Time Boss:- My boss has a fascinating relationship with time. In his world, everything is urgent. “Can you look at this?” usually means “Drop everything, including your lunch, your dignity and your plans to ever leave this office before 8 pm. He expects us to finish all the work the moment he spells it out. In fact, before we even start the work, he calls the client and asks them whether they got the e-mail / offer. Even when he has his tea or lunch or on way to the washroom, he will give work as time is precious and it should not be wasted. The workload often feels like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon, while the boss stands on the shore, shouting that the teaspoon is too big and we should be using a coffee stirrer.
The Accurate Boss:- My boss is a “stickler for accuracy,” but he always follows the rule – “I will redo everything you do, but I need you to do it first so that I can criticize you and your work which actually is perfect but I will make it imperfect by picking up unnecessary flaws which I will create on my own as I am the Boss”.
The Gossiping Boss:- Such bosses are nowhere concerned about the productivity of the company. They have their favourite employee who has nothing to do but report every minute things happening in the office. These are the reporters who report day to day breaking news to the Bosses before and after office hours. Come what may, they are the people for whom the Boss is always deaf, dumb and blind. Their only job is to keep a watch on the employees and for that, they are rewarded under the table in cash and kind.
The Relaxed Boss:- This kind of boss is easy going. They are nice, friendly, and makes work a fun and enjoyable place. They are easy to talk, meaning you can talk about your problems with them comfortably and ask them questions. Also a relaxed boss trusts you with your work; they will let you work freely without breathing down your neck. Having this type of boss should make the working experience a lot better. But alas, such bosses are hard to find.
Finally… something to say to every Boss:-
Dear Boss,
It is time you understand that we do have an individual personal life. Our life does not only rotate around the office calendar. You have always motivated us to work more and more, but if our work is actually contributing to your company, we will be happier if we get a hike or a promotion. This will only help us to work better for the company. Your “mere words” cannot run our house. We never argue with you. We just explain why we are right. Everytime we sit for lunch, you come up with something important that has to be done on the spot. Please understand. The lunch time is the only vacation we get. Else, the whole day, we are just slogging for you and your company for a peanut salary.
We are not Robots. Request you to kindly consider us as Human Beings who have feelings and need an understanding and not just constant task monitoring. Please respect our right to silence the phone, close our e-mails and turn off texts / team notifications once we are at home or on holidays. Your first and most important responsibility should be to treat every employee with dignity, listening to their opinions and conversing with kindness, paying them what they deserve thus promoting a positive work culture in which employees are fulfilled, engaged and motivated to perform at their very best.
Thanks
By Ms. Sindhu Gopalkrishnan
