Share the Worst Job You've Ever Had
After fifteen years as a senior person at a large company I decided to take on a "very hands on" position for a small company. I was thrilled at the idea that I would be able to do what I enjoyed, and not have the corporate politics and business process that I felt had slowed down a number of projects over the years. I was hired by a gentlemen who had been a CEO of a large oversea's company, in the first week he was back in the USA. In our first meeting he proudly told me that he had fired the entire department at his last position. I should have taken that as a hint that something was wrong.
What Made This Job Your Worst Job - Ever
I quickly realized that my new boss expected everyone to be "hands on" - EXCEPT for himself. No one ever saw a document from him, or even an outline of work from him. He had a sense of importance that was stunning. When he spoke, he asked that no one else interrupt, or take notes, or rustle paper or anything but "listen" to him. Yet he never gave anyone else that courtesy in return. He replied to emails, took phone calls - and interrupted when he had a question.
What was apparent very soon was that he was highly reactive - and often made quick decisions without consideration of consequences. I came to expect to have to 'un-do' decisions he had made, and make sure he remembered that HE had made the original decision.
Then one day he gave detailed credit card information (number, AVM, his address, his pin#, etc) from one of his personal cards to use for a large advertising project. I suggested that he put in the credit card information himself, rather than give it to me to do. But he refused and told me "that was my job."
I found out later that the company officers later told him it was against company policy for him to expense an advertising cost from personal credit card.
Rather than tell me the truth, a month later, he demanded that because there had been fraud on the card, he had canceled the card, funds were being withdrawn from those accounts, and I needed to contact everyone who had been paid via this card on the project and have them submit expenses immediately. Did I mention that he expected everything to remain on schedule for delivery, even WITHOUT payment to these vendors? As the day wore on he got more and more verbally abusive and upset when I told him that the project would be delayed until payment was received by the vendors. And then, he started asking if I had used the card for my own use - his kids had apparently used it for pizza delivery a couple of time, video rental, etc - not told him - and he was sure it was me. I literally quit the next day because I was so terrified of his decision making ability and the way he handled stress.
Tips and Tricks
- Do more research on the work style (of my boss), and what their expectations for a working relationship entailed.
- Refuse to take personal finance information from anyone - corporately issued cards are one thing, personal data is another.
- Address inappropriate behavior with HR early on.
