Here is the 58th installment of Ten Top Lists of What Not to Do. The inspiration for this came from a number of blogs which focused on different kinds of bosses. Hope you like it.
Top Ten Things Not to do if You Have a Lousy Boss
10.If you have a lousy boss, do not try to curry favor. If you do, at best your co-workers will shun you. At worst, the boss may think you are a big ass suck up and have no respect for you what so ever.
9. If you have a lousy boss, do not wish a cheery good morning. If you do, at best the boss will think you are shallow. At worst, the boss will not appreciate your greeting since all days are bad in the boss’s opinion.
8. If you have a lousy boss, do not volunteer to plan an event. If you do, at best you will be disappointed in the boss’s disapproval of how the event went. At worst, your permanent record will have an entry about poor planning skills.
7. If you have a lousy boss, do not talk to the boss at company functions. If you do, at best the boss with think you are sucking up. At worst, the boss will allow paranoid feelings to influence the decision to move you to the basement mop closet.
6. If you have a lousy boss, do not ask a question at meetings. If you do, at best your co-workers will think you are sucking up. At worst, the boss will take your question as a personal attack on the company objectives and will record this lack of loyalty for your next review.
5. If you have a lousy boss, do not take normal coffee breaks. If you do, at best the boss will think you are not motivated. At worst, the boss will assume you are leading a plot with your co-workers to undermine the boss’s authority.
4. If you have a lousy boss, do not get caught taking to the boss’s boss at a company function. At best, the boss will allow the paranoid feeling to influence your next pay raise. At worst, the boss will have a private discussion with the boss’s boss on the need to develop a performance plan to get you back on track.
3. If you have a lousy boss, do not expect praise and reward for a job well done. If you do, at best you will be disappointed since the boss believes all good things are a result of excellent management of you. At worst, the boss will find out how disappointed you are and will make a note in your file about your weakness as a team player.
2. If you have a lousy boss, do not think the invitation to join a special team is an honor. If you do, at best you will be disappointed to find out the boss just needed some folks to do extra work. At worst, you will learn the special team is being held accountable and chartered to correct some screw-ups done by another special team appointed by the boss.
1. If you have a lousy boss, do not feel comfortable going on vacation. If you do, at best you just may be interrupted by annoying phone calls. At worst, you will not be interrupted but will come back to find your job function has changed with another forty hours of work added on to your current load.
Fiction Favorites 
All excellent advice!
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Unless you have a very nice boss. Then the opposite is right. Thanks for the visit.
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Having had my share of lousy bosses, I can say you’ve nailed it, John. I imagine you’ve had your fair share too 😉 Great list and Happy Monday!
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I sure have. Enough to wonder how I survived. 🙂
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Reblogged this on 1WriteWay and commented:
Surely we all have had the experience of working under a lousy boss. Read on for John Howell’s latest Top Ten installment!
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Learned #2 after the first time. Another could be ‘Do NOT be proud that you’re being put on a project to help it move along. At best, you’ll be written up for poor performance. At worst, you’ll be called into the office an hour later and yelled at for the project being a week behind schedule.’ (That actually happened to me several times at one job. Think I’m having a bit of a flashback here.)
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Sorry about the flashback. PWS (Post Work Syndrome) does that. I was once chartered with a project and it got killed two days later and I was told it was because it didn’t move fast enough. I think the operating title of the venture was “Solve World Hunger”
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Wow. I’d expect there to be more patience on something like that.
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Great advice. I think they go to lousy boss school…otherwise know as management training.
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LBC (Lousy Boss School) has a certificate of completion only issued after the first direct report is verified to be driven insane. 🙂
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Great advice, John! If you have a lousy boss, sometimes it’s best to look for a new job. Years ago, I had the worst boss you could imagine. The good thing that came out of that situation was after enduring that nut case, now I can work for anyone. 🙂
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Yes Jill it is funny how tests of fire make us prepared for more. Thanks for the comment.
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Hasn’t everyone had one of those lousy bosses some time or other? Sigh. You’ve captured a lot of true situations. I’m glad I’m retired. 😀
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Me too but don’t know how I made it. Thanks
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~(~_*)~~
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Thank you
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😀
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Why are there so many?
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Lousy bosses or things not to do? If bosses; sometime after the apple deal with Adam and Eve, God decided to make a hell on Earth (why wait) and created the first lousy boss.(Might have been Eve) If things not to do; I like the number ten. It is the basis for a lot of stuff. I know TMI.
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Lousy bosses……….wow, I’ve had a few.
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But look at you now. They would be sooo jealous.
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This is a frightening list, John. I stopped saying “Oh yeah, definitely . .” after number six.
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There is a special place in hell for these guys
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Good advice with some chuckles. I had a string of lousy bosses, thus when I got a new one, I assumed they were pathetic like the rest until they proved differently … and most of the time that was more accurate.
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Sometimes there is a surprise package under the boss tree. Glad you found one 😊
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Well said!
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Thanks Frank
On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 7:55 AM, Fiction Favorites wrote:
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Hi John I have had some of the best and some of the worst and so I enjoyed the giggle and hope my next boss is none of the above.
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We can all hope. Thanks for the visit
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