My boss sucks like an Electrolux

The BBQ Pit
1

I’m going to have to rant here, so please excuse me.

I’m a manager at this company and was promoted to the position in January, just before my last boss retired. She (a VP), her boss (the President and CEO) and the Chairman of the Board spent my first two years here telling me what a great job I’m doing and how they finally have a good writer in place to guide the production of newsletters and PR campaigns and all the other crap we produce. In fact, I started this company’s PR plan and we would not be doing any PR if it weren’t for me. Then my wonderful boss retired. In her place has sprouted the most annoying bastard in existence.

He second-guesses every fucking decision I make. Worse, he re-writes everything I write for publication. I have a four-year degree in journalism and can write press releases blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back. I have been doing those and company newsletters for more than 10 years. I was a magazine editor in a previous position.

Suddenly, I am required to let him “look over” every sentence I construct. When it doesn’t sound just like something he would say, it gets completely re-written. This asshole, BTW, is the master of improperly using a $5 word, regardless if his audience will understand what the fuck he is talking about. He seems not to care that the newsletter – which I just spent four days on, only to completely re-write – should be written at about 8th grade level, not grad school level. He’d rather completely lose his audience in order to sound like the pompous prick that he is – and therefore, feel superior to everyone else.

It’s a power thing – when idiot peons like myself ask “what does that word mean?” he just eats it up. He gets the chance to explain to you what a moron you are because you didn’t know the meaning of some 18-syllable Thesaurus entry. The only thing I’ve learned from him is how horribly insecure he is.

I KNOW I’m not a bad writer, but to listen to him, you’d think I suck. He never has anything at all positive to say about anything I create. Only veiled references to my incompetency with comments like, “I want this done right for a change.” If I suddenly sucked so bad, as a manager and as a writer, why doesn’t he just come out and explain his expectations and let me know I’m not meeting them? Because I am meeting, if not exceeding, expectations; he just can’t remember the part about positive reinforcement. Evidently, to him, negative reinforcement is an effective management tool.

Prick.

It’s not that my duties have changed. Or the way that I approach my responsibilities. The only thing that has changed is that I do not write like this guy, and evidently the only voice that’s “correct” is his! What the fuck is the point of attempting to craft a coherent sentence when it’s going to be hacked and revamped and revised until it doesn’t remotely resemble my voice? (Oh yeah, and until the grammar is completely fucked.) Why bother busting my ass when nothing I do is apparently done very well?

Goddammit, I took this position with this company to avoid conservative old-school stuffed shirt assholes like him. Guess what boat I’m in now? I’m right back where I started: I love my field but I hate my job. Again. :frowning:

There’s no way in hell I can stand another three years of this – until I’m fully vested. I’ll have to fuck myself out of 20% of my 401k match so I can take my pissy attitude elsewhere. Jobs in my field in this city are hard to come by at the rate I’m making, so I’m hoping for a telecommuting gig out there somewhere.

Anybody need a Web content writer/editor? I have to work for people who trust my expertise in the field in which I’ve spent the last 15 years, including professional training. This guy is a putz and life is too short to even try to suck up to him.

I realize this is, relatively speaking, a pretty mild rant and many other Dopers here have far worse job situations. Sorry for trivializing your issues – which I’m sure are a much bigger deal. I’m just frustrated because I used to love my job and enjoyed being trusted to do what I do well. Now I am constantly criticized for no obvious reason while my boss ignores the Real Issues – like why we aren’t getting paid from certain services we performed.

Too bad posting this hasn’t made me feel any better. :mad:

2

From what you say here, I wonder if this boss fella feels threatened by you. Or maybe he realizes he doesn’t really have much to do, or doesn’t know how to do it, so has decided to puff up his ego by trying to make you feel small.

Is the company large enough that you could transfer to a different department with close to the same pay?

3

I think you write pretty well. I had a similar situation occur a year or so ago.

The first time my name got dropped from a memorandum, I was pissed. Then I realized, “hey, I’m not writing here. I’m just pooping out something for my boss to mold into a crap-flavored lawn ornament.”

Now, Mr. Ed. gets my first draft, meticulously spell-checked, and nothing else. If the fucker wants a marionette to do the writing, I won’t waste the effort on refining my work. I simply watch for “fact creep.” I pick my battles carefully, and fight when it is important. I also make certain that my name disappears when the work mutates beyond the scope of my original intent.

4

Oh, so that’s where our ex-VP went…

Your job sounds pretty similar to mine, Dogzilla, and so does your boss. One difference is that mine didn’t know enough $5 words to make the kind of changes yours does. He was an arrogant dickwad who knew absolutely nothing about the product we produce, but always tried to pretend he was next Bill Gates by hiding behind threats and accusations (“You’re already supposed to know that. Don’t waste my time with these stupid questions!”). His favorite activity was insisting that everything I wrote be given to him so that he could sit on it for a few days, then whip it out from under his desk and cross out random words, saying “This is all wrong. Go copy Oracle’s homepage and write what they write,” all the while complaining that things were behind schedule. His own writing, of course, was absolutely atrocious.

Fortunately, we finally got rid of him (yes, ‘we’. Half the company (about 15 people) went to the CEO and said “you hired him to do A,B and C. He has made zero progress on any of them, and we are sick of putting up with his nonsense. Either you fire him or we all quit.” Well, we’re still here, and he’s not.)

Sorry you got stuck with him, dude.

–sublight.

5

Just a suggestion. Maybe not a good one, but…

Take 2 drafts to his superior. Your original draft, and his improved version. Let the bigwigs see what they’re getting from this guy.

6

Great idea, Spooje!

But I’ve got a question about this. Would it be proper or wise to make the side-by-side comparison a blind test–that is, each copy unnamed? Or do you think that’s even neccessary?

7

I think you might be dead on. He’s new to the company, and relatively clue free in terms of what we do and how this company makes money. I’m in charge of $2 million, which is probably 1/4 to 1/3 of his entire division budget. And I’m about 20 years younger and way more technologically astute. (He can barely send me e-mail!) He tends to focus in on this kind of minutiae (sp?) when he should be worried about the big picture. He doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to worry about!

Sadly, this company isn’t large enough to transfer and I wouldn’t want to manage any other team. This is what I do and I’m not deviating from my Grand Plan, especially just for this asshole. But an excellent suggestion and THANK YOU!

You have given me enough of a perk-up: at least I can be satisfied with the knowledge that he’s just trying to contribute something valuable in his feeble little way and pretty much fumbling at it.

8

That suggestion makes me giggle with devious glee, but it’s probably not the best political move I could make. His superior is the CEO and SHE would view this type of presentation as a petty waste of her time – and I don’t want to be the one that gets to annoy her by wasting her time.

However, I think this brings Spider Woman’s comments to new light: his boss is a woman about 15 years younger than him and most of his subordinates are younger women as well. We are running this company, and he’s acting like some Bubba Guy sitting around waiting for one of us to bring him a beer. Once he realized we are not his waitresses (or his secretaries), he started asserting whatever feeble power he could muster… Hmm. What do you think? I think I kinda like this theory! :smiley:

I’ve decided to suck it up and see how long I can put up with it. Sofa King has the idea: sometimes the only thing you can change is your attitude. This is usually my mantra. I’ll get back with my own program…