by Maria Papadopoulou

Created on: July 10, 2009

The worst type of boss i have ever encountered, was the insecure one. He is the type of boss who does not feel that he is really capable of stepping up to the plate, and in his attempt to hide that from others (for obvious reasons), he makes the following mistakes:

1. Relies too much on you.

He knows he is not able to do what is required of him, so he relies too much on you, even for the simplest things. He will wait for you to come back from the toilet to ask you to find that client's file. When a client calls and asks to speak to him, he will put him on hold to ask you how should he handle this. He will write a report and give it to you to proofread. He will give you one task after another, emphasising that all of them have to be ready by the end of the day. When you are on sick leave, he will be calling you every day, asking you when you will be back.

2. Becomes indecisive.

Again, exactly because he does not feel confident enough, he can not make a decision, let alone keep it. Should he or shouldn't he? He does not know. But fortunately, you are there, so he can ask you. And you must have a whole list of arguments prepared to convince him. If Plan A does not work, you have to be ready to suggest Plan B, and if Plan B does not work, you will have to be ready to suggest Plan C, and if Plan C does not work, then you will have to be ready to suggest a combination of all three. Oh, and keep reassuring him that everything will be alright no matter what. Of course when another manager enters the office you will have to immediately forget all about your great arguments and plans and pray that your boss had enough time to memorise them and present them as his own brilliant ideas.

3. Becomes a control freak

He absolutely needs to know what is happening every minute of the day, to reassure himself that no one is ignoring his orders or trying to sabotage him. His job is on the line, and exactly because he feels that he did not exactly earn it fair and square, he fears something will go wrong that he will not be able to fix, and as a result he will loose the high status, the big paycheck and the lovely bonus. You have to be able to report your every move, explain it in satisfactory manner and be willing to repeat what you said one hour, or even five minutes before.

4. Becomes a sweet talker.

As it is expected, you will eventually reach your breaking point and you will want to have a serious talk with your boss, explaining to him that some things need to change in order for you to be able to stay. At first he will ignore you, thinking you are making empty threats, but when he senses you are serious he will change his tune, starting to praise all your hard work and professionalism and how much he values you not only as an employee, but as a person as well. He will keep on and on, until he finally convinces you to stay, promising everything will get better. He will be all hugs and kisses for a few days to a few weeks maximum (depending on how scared he got that you would actually leave) and once he feels you are not going anywhere, he will of course start being the ray of sunshine you know and love.

What a delight.

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