World's Worst Boss

The title of this reminds me of Whose Line is It Anyway? But it's s good 'un anyway from the Pariah. Except for one detail, which I'll address in my answer.

If you’ve been in the labor force for a few years, you have had the misfortune of working for a bad boss at one time or another. What was he like? What made him a bad boss? Was he the egotist who could never be wrong? Was he infallable despite the fact that his unchallengeable ideas often failed? Was he the micro-manager who scrutinized employees’ every activity and logged frequency of bathroom breaks? Did he harrass you or other employees? Did your worst boss demand more and more effort from his subordiantes without so much as a thank you?

In your career, who was your worst boss? What was s/he like? What did he do (or not do) that earns him your nomination for World’s Worst Boss? Don’t name him—we wouldn’t want it coming back on you, especially if he’s still your current boss!

First of all, I have, indeed had a couple of memorable bad bosses. I've also had a couple of bosses that I don't even remember, so I'm wondering if that makes them worse bosses than the "bad bosses." Or better than a good boss? Hmmm.

Secondly, working as I do in the library field I guess I would notice that the question refers to these bad bosses as 'he' exclusively. Well my nightmare boss happens to be a woman, but the Beast's bad bosses have been all men: the women bosses he's had for have been great!

OK, now that I've cleared the air...here's my answer:

Psycho-Boss from Hell, hereafter referred to as PBH, was literally nuts. Six months after she hired me, she was in the locked ward of a mental hospital, on suicide watch. Now, that fact in and of itself would normally (and in fact DID) encourage me to feel sorry for her and give her a break. I mean, jeez, who wouldn't assume that she's just having a rough patch? Well, there was the library board meeting I attended just after her return to work where she brushed off the previous year's budget overage as "the staff spent too much while I was in the hospital." Not likely. That was my first clue that things were not...right.

I lasted 6 years at the job, only leaving after PBH pulled up stakes and headed west. She was still seeing her psychiatrist almost daily. She was still getting by on four or fewer hours of sleep per night. She was still anorexic. She still ran every morning at least a few miles before coming to work at 6 a.m. Unfortunately, she didn't move very far west; she was still near enough to come back and pay bills until the board hired a new director.

Yes, you read that right: she paid the bills for almost three months after she quit and started her new job.

In between the first clue and my last day there were days when the staff came to work to find notes saying, "I'm down but not out--you won't get rid of me this easily" [that's a quote: I photocopied and saved it] pinned to the employee board. We went through at least three cleaning services because the desks were never wiped off to her satisfaction. The library had to have all the shelves faced and all returned books back on the shelves every night, along with all current magazines on the shelves in order. We "ran out of money" to purchase books two months into every budget year. I was told at one annual review that I was like a terrier with things, I never let them go; I vividly remember walking out of her office in confusion after that because I got a 15% raise and couldn't figure out why a reference librarian like a terrier (in that context) would be a bad thing.

Those are just the memorable highlights.

After she left, while she was still paying the bills, the atmosphere was the worst of my employment anywhere ever: I remember calling one of the board members from the reference desk and sobbing (the only time I called for help from them, or cried like that in public) that the being at work was impossible. She was appalled that I was so upset, never having seen me (or anyone else) freak out to that extent. The staff was completely divided: the tech group was following PBH's directions from her new workplace and the reference staff was trying to behave sensibly and follow the interim director's directions. PBH eventually hired two or three of our circ staff out from under us.

Several years later--after I'd been gone for a couple of years--I heard that the board had the books audited and found out that the whole money situation was completely whacked. PBH had been cooking the books the whole time she worked there. No kidding. Unfortunately, the statute of limitations had run out, and the board continued to have no spine anyway. No charges were filed.

Yes, she's still employed, still at the same place. I check up on that library periodically; they are in the process of building a new building. I have no doubt she's still nuts, still criminal, still a horrible person. I'm just so glad I don't have to deal with her in any way, even on a state or national level (why I'm not involved in and don't attend ALA conferences). She is probably the worst overall person, boss or otherwise, I've ever ever met.