HAPPY (GULP) NATIONAL BOSS DAY
Today is National Boss Day and it looks like those sitting behind their desks and unwrapping a nice bottle of cellophane-wrapped plonk will be in the minority.
National Boss Day was invented in 1958 in the U.S. and is now celebrated in a dozen countries. Hallmark do a nice line in cheery cards, but most Australian workers might want to wait until Halloween for a more (ahem) appropriate gift.
That’s because more than 60 percent of Australian workers surveyed say they’ve been at the mercy of a bad boss, according to www.tell-your-boss.com.
It seems that too many bosses are making the news for all the wrong reasons.
Sexist, manipulative, exploitative, bullying, power mad, rude, picky, petty, dismissive and worse – you don’t have to go far for a tale of a boss who has made an employee’s life hell.
In fact, here at The Hoopla, Tracey Spicer has given some of her sexist ex-employers an early National Boss Day treat with a blistering pay-back and found an extraordinary amount of support from those with similar stories.
And journalist Karen Lateo also writing here at The Hoopla had a few mind-boggling tales to relate, including one about the “Queen Bee of the publishing industry” who was keen the regale the office with the details of her latest colonic flush.
“So the loyal coterie not only signed up to have colonics, too, but fought over scoring the prime position: the cubicle next to the boss!” Karen wrote. Eyeeew.
As one of the bullied, she said: “…when you’ve been reduced to tears, harassed beyond all decency, yelled at and belittled, your options feel pretty limited: either curl up in a ball or quit.”
Psychologist Michelle McQuaid , author of Five Reasons To Tell Your Boss To go F**k Themselves: How Positive Psychology Can Help You Get What You Want says:
“It takes most of us 22 months to free ourselves of a bad boss by which time our stress levels risk becoming chronic.
“It can shift our brain’s chemistry towards anxiety or depression and affect our immune response and cardiovascular functioning, elevating the risk of colds, diseases, strokes, and even heart attacks.
“One study in Sweden even found employees who have a difficult relationship with their boss were 30 percent more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease.”
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3 Responses to this article
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Anon October 16, 2012
After working for myself for a few years (and now having an awesome Manager looking after my little business) I landed a job with the state Government, and have had the immense pleasure of learning from and growing with two amazing Members of Parliament. (I ‘inherited’ my current one after the first retired) I have many colleagues working for Members who do not make the work environment a very happy one, and whose public profiles are very different from the way in which they behave/think/speak away from the public eye – the words ‘petulant’, ‘selfish’, ‘unreasonable’, ‘childish’, ‘self-obsessed’ and ‘venomous’ have been bandied around. Luckily (so, so luckily) both of mine have been the real deal, and I feel proud to say I work with them because a) they make work a pleasure, b) they have given me the freedom and encouragement to expand my role, and c) I am not ashamed to be associated with them. (How many people could say that of a lot of pollies!?!?) Thanks for an article which made me take a moment to think about how lucky I am. Ps. Did have some good and some shocking bosses in my 10 years with Defence – haven’t always had it this good!!
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Ned Manning October 16, 2012
Now Principals are to be Managers rather than Educators then perhaps the moniker, “Boss”, will have more relevance. It the past it was used in a slightly ironic way.
