Umm...

[OnyxHeart]

Recently, there was online discussion on a topic that I think most of us are familiar with: bad bosses. Well, according to one poster, "bad bosses" aren't really bad at all- they're effective. He went on to say that whether bad bosses undercut productivity (they do), or motivate workers (they don't), is in fact- irrelevant! Its all about worker morale (his)- which apparently would suffer if his boss wasn't "effective" (abusive, racist, ect) toward himself and his coworkers.

You see, such behavior is a sign of "hormonal health" (his words), and how could he respect a boss who wasn't..."effective"? Why, the rest of us need to "sack up" and/or "grow a spine"!

This guy of course has a right to his opinion, as we all do, but tell me if you could resist laughing?

[Micronian]

I think he means "effective" bosses, like the way Bobby Knight was an "effective" basketball coach. They only have one weapon: fear. They scare their subordinates. Those that aren't affected by the fear these bosses dish out are either fired, or they quit. Therefore, only the employees that are manipulated by fear end up staying and become "effective".

Sadly, this "fear" that employees feel also works to the advantage of Capitalism, because you need to work to pay your bills, and it's very difficult to look for a good job. Some people are too afraid to take that chance, so they become "effective" workers to the S.O.B type of boss, and the capitalist machine that backs him up.

[Kelly]

Maybe Mr. Machiavelli is secretly a boss posing as an employee on the internet?

Have a nice day,
Kelly

[Brax]

If we would all rather have the balls to quit because of abusive bosses, there would be none to few of them, because they'd have no employees.

[brimontz]

I don't get the logic, sometimes. I am dealing with a bad "interim" boss now, who replaced my previous boss (a good boss) who left for another job just after Christmas. This bad boss runs another unit in the hospital and lost all of her good staff, yet she kisses upper management's rears so much that they love her. Even this boss is an interim boss for my unit, things have gotten so bad that I will be looking for another job after I get back from my vacation in the beginning of May. I'm fortunate to be in a rare job now (nursing) where there are LOTS of available jobs, so there's no need to put up with bad bosses. But lots of people do -- and that doesn't make them effective bosses.

Being an effective boss is a lot different than being a boss who is in good with upper management.

Brian

[Brax]

I'd suggest before leaving that you explain to upper management why you're leaving.