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by Brooke Eaton
Monster Staff Writer
“The inability to see projects responsibly from start to completion is the next tip-off that impending, self-sought destruction is on the way. This form of disaster-hunting can show up as crazy overwork and excessive micromanagement.” --
Crazy Bosses: Fully Revised and Updated by Stanley Bing
It can be tough to work for a micromanager who gives zero direction.
Monster member CSHCSH had to deal with this and more:
In my last position, I worked for a woman who was considered rude and incompetent. There were multiple complaints about her, some even from directors, but the head of our department refused to do anything about her (she had been hired because a powerful woman at our firm recommended her). She yanked things out of my hands. She yanked things out of my coworkers’ hands. She would close the door to our office (I had the bad luck to share an office with her), and she would have a meltdown because her boss was so critical, yet she criticized every single thing I did. During one of her crying sessions, she told me how she had overheard a former boss of hers call her a moron! My first performance review from her was outstanding, but she took it back about a week later because her boss gave her a bad review, and she felt I had to share the responsibility. She had absolutely no clue what was going on and made unreasonable demands. If it was going to take us a week to turn a project around, she demanded it be done in a day. I am not exaggerating. She took work home with her and worked until midnight and expected me to do the same. She took credit for my work: I made a huge training presentation that she reviewed and changed one or two words around. But she had no idea what was going on, so I had to change the wording back, because hers didn’t make sense. But the worst thing was she took most of the credit! Her wording change was just so when she said she worked on it, it wouldn't be a total lie. She pulled me off an important project so I could research information assigned to her. When the director I was working with on the project emailed her asking why I had been removed, my boss just ignored her. I finally left the company for a much better and higher paying job. Several coworkers said how no one would want to work for her. So I know I wasn't the only one who thought she was a loser.Bing’s Diagnosis“The disaster hunter is the late-stage, about-to-implode/explode walking time bomb,” explains Bing. “She is possessed by the pain of her own addictions. Yearning for surcease, for an end to the cycle of suffering she feels and inflicts on others. Disaster hunters drink too much, work too much and talk too much. They careen ever closer to the abyss, fearing it, craving it. And as they do, they flail about, knocking over furniture, alienating the people they need the most, making them very, very angry.”
So when superiors pressure the disaster hunter boss to get the job done better and more quickly, all that anxiety and overreaction is channeled to the person immediately below her. The result is a tense, stressful and overall negative working relationship.
Bing Suggests“Well, folks, I can tell you one thing,” says Bing. “Although it’s difficult to avoid feeling this way, the kind of rage, contempt and hatred CSHCSH is waist deep in won’t do a thing. With the disaster hunter above all others, you’ve got to use the wrong end of the telescope: See the poor, demented boss very clearly -- but from afar. Notice how close she is to extinction. Witness her spiral to doom. Keep your distance, but do what you can to ease the process a bit.”
So while the disaster hunter self-destructs, here’s what you can do:
- Do your very best work.
- Discreetly reach out to as many colleagues and senior management as you can. You’ll want people around who will advocate for you in the future.
- Be patient.
More Help for Dealing with a Disaster Hunter Boss:
Other Crazy Bosses in This Feature: