Hollywood’s Top 10 Worst Bosses

The website Spike.com listed its “top 10 worst movie bosses.”  Check out the funny pictures and clips of memorable scenes from these movies. 

10. Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada
9. John Milton from The Devil’s Advocate
8. Gordon Gekko
7. Katharine Parker from Working Girl
6. Ronny Cox from Robocop
5. Bruce Wayne
4. Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross
3. Michael Corleone
2. Bill Lumbergh from Office Space
1. Darth Vader

Can you think of any additional toxic movie bosses?  How does your boss compare to these infamous bosses?

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Virgin Bosses Cut Jobs and Collect Bonuses

Virgin Media, the UK-based cable and broadband company, has angered its employees and unions by announcing plans to award bonuses to its executives only a few months after laying off over 2,000 employees.  Virgin Media is heavily in debt and the company lossed $73 million in the past quarter. 

Virgin Media’s CEO, Neil Berkett, said that “Clearly we are watching the pennies and keeping the costs low.”  Apparently this doesn’t apply to pennies that are rolling into their own bank accounts.

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Bizarre Boss Requests

In honor of Administrative Professionals Week, which is this week, BusinessManagementDaily.com asked administrative assistants what the craziest thing was that they did for their boss.  Here are a few of the many responses they received:

• Drop off a pet’s stool sample at the vet. “He left the container on my desk while I was having lunch.”
• Call around for a used toilet to replace one that had broken in the boss’s rental house.
• Send fake rejection letters from universities to the boss’s daughter as a joke.
• Throw a surprise party for an up-and-coming vice president’s dog.
• Spray the boss’s bald head with sunscreen.

Has your boss ever asked you to do anything outrageous that was obviously not in your job description?  Send us your stories in the Comments section below!

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Using Twitter to Take Revenge on a Bad Boss

Apparently John Soden III, a managing director at investment bank Thomas Wiesel Partners, didn’t like the idea of some of his employees taking time off for the Good Friday holiday, so he fired off an email to his team ordering the ones who are not “orthodox something” back into the office and suggested that the absent associates who want time off on bank holidays become tellers at Wells Fargo.

Apparently one of Soden’s employees felt that this obnoxious email was the last straw and decided to take revenge.  A copy of Soden’s email made its way to the media and a fake Twitter account in his name was opened with humorous tweets poking fun at him.  The Fake John Soden Twitter Bio reads “Bringing my A game 8 days a week. Expect nothing less from those around me. I deliver results. I rock.”

I suppose Soden will think twice about shooting off these types of emails in the future.

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Racist Boss Costs Marjam $500K

Marjam Supply Company, which runs a chain of 15 building materials stores, agreed to pay $495,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to five former employees in order to settle a race discrimination suit that was filed by the EEOC.

A Marjam toxic supervisor and several other coworkers subjected the five African American employees to a hostile work environment, repeatedly calling one of the workers the N-word, discussing the Ku Klux Klan, and talking about burning crosses in front of the African American employees.  One of the employees was fired for complaining about the abusive behavior.

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City Manager Fired for Creating “Culture of Fear”

Mary Kay Peck, the city manager of Henderson, NV, was recently fired after only 18 months on the job after creating what City Council members called “a culture of fear.” The council decided unanimously to fire Peck after holding an evaluation hearing in which council members criticized the city manager for intimidating employees with an abusive management style.

For example, Peck was accused of publicly embarrassing a number of employees, disclosing employees’ private medical information, and ordering employees not to inform the city council about severe budgetary problems that had developed.

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Toxic Water Superintendent Pollutes Work Environment

Employees who work for Sean Benton, the Louisiana City of Monroe Water Distribution Superintendent, have attended the suspension hearing of a coworker in a show of support for their colleague and to speak out against the hostile work environment that their despised boss has created and maintained. 

Employees recorded a four hour meeting that took place late last year where Benton used hundreds of obscenities and ordered one of the supervisors to physically attack an equipment operator.  Benton told the foreman to “yank his a– in that hole and whip the s–t out of him.”

The mayor of Monroe, Jamie Mayo, has said that abusive language would not be tolerated.  On the other hand, Mayo seems to be supporting Benton so far.  The mayor said that all of the reports he has heard about Benton have been positive and that there haven’t been any problems with him.

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Management Lessons from the Somalia Pirate Incident

The unbelievable events surrounding the pirate attack on the US cargo ship Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia should provide inspiration and hope to bosses and employees nationwide. 

Capt. Richard Phillips risked his life by offering himself as a hostage to the armed pirates in order to safeguard and secure the release of his employees, one of whom called Phillips a hero and said that “The whole crew misses him…we owe the captain our lives.”

If this kind of selfless sacrifice and camraderie can flourish in such a difficult and stressful workplace, where coworkers live and work together on a ship 24 hours a day, then then more bosses across the country should make it a priority to cultivate similar work environments based on trust, respect, teamwork, and loyalty.

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Bully Boss Fired for Obscene Remarks

The managing director of the New York Palace Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels in New York, was fired for obscenely ordering a Catholic employee to clean the ashes from his forehead that he had received during an Ash Wednesday service.

Niklaus Leuenberger told the hotel’s bell captain to “Wipe that f—–g s–t off your face.”  Ironically, the Palace Hotel happens to be located across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the hotel leases its land from the Catholic Church.

Christopher Cowdray, the CEO of the Dorchester Collection, flew to New York to personally fire Leuenberger.  The company said, “We take the well-being of our employees extremely seriously and that is why our CEO, Mr. Cowdray, went to New York in person to deal with this matter.”

Source: NY Dailly News
 
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How to be a good boss

The National Federation of Independent Business has put together a list of 16 ways to be a better boss.  Here are five of the most important tips.  Get these right, and your employees will be singing your praises on eBossWatch!

1. Listen to your employees.  There’s nothing more demoralizing to people than to work for a boss who thinks she knows all of the answers.   The employees that are in direct contact with customers have great ideas about what customers want and how to solve their problems and satisfy their needs.  This valuable information is too important for managers to ignore.

2. Communicate your vision.  You can’t expect your employees to excel at their jobs if they don’t know what the company is trying to accomplish.  When your team members know about their goals, they’ll have a much easier time working to achieve them.
 
3. Affirm your people. This is probably the easiest and most effective way to stand out as a good boss.  Complimenting your employees and thanking them on a regular basis will keep them happy, engaged, and productive.

4. Give responsibility.  Most people are naturally motivated, , and want their companies to succeed.  If they are able take ownership over their tasks and make decisions on their own, your employees will take pride in their work and will be better able to stay motivated.

5. Use mistakes as learning opportunities.  Recognize that everyone makes mistakes.  The most innovative companies welcome mistakes as an essential part of the creative process. 
 
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