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30 Times People Realized They’re Working For An Idiot, As Shared In This Online Thread
Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, revealed that 89 percent of bosses believe employees quit because they want more money. As much as the managers would love this statistic to be true (because it would basically mean they do not contribute to workplace dissatisfaction), it's simply not true.
A recent study by Flexjobs discovered that employees are stuck in jobs they dislike and that about 30% of them want to quit, while 25% quit their job in the last six months. (Of those, 68% did so without having another job lined up.) The survey of 2,202 workers gave the following five top reasons for saying, "Take this job and shove it": toxic company culture (62%), low salary (59%), poor management (56%), lack of healthy work-life boundaries (49%), not allowing remote work (43%). So as we can see, the higher-ups are often the problem themselves.
And there's an online discussion that shows all the reasons how they become one. Some time ago, Reddit user ColossusXT made a post on the platform, asking others to share the exact moment they realized that the boss they were working for "was actually just an idiot that makes more money than you." And many did; so far, the post has 1,636 comments. To make your life easier, Bored Panda has scrolled through all of them and picked out the most interesting ones.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I used to do computer repair. New boss was hired, and it started to become obvious she knew nothing about computers. Every morning she'd ask me what I was going to do for the day, then repeat back what I said as an order.
I told the receptionist about this, and she told me I was probably just overreacting.
Then one morning the receptionist was in the repair room and witnessed this exchange:
**Boss:** *Fievelm, what are you working on?*
**Me:** *I'm installing Windows on this machine, cleaning spyware off of that one, and transferring data between those laptops.*
**Boss:** *OK. I need you to install Windows on that machine, clean the spyware off of that one, and transfer the data on those laptops. Can you get all that done?*
I look over at the receptionist and her mouth was agape.
Thankfully that boss did not last long, and I moved on to greener pastures.
But before we vilify managers, allow me to play devil's advocate and consider the following: according to a study by West Monroe Partners, among managers who oversee one to two employees, 59% report having no training at all, and the same measure stands at 41% among those who oversee three to five workers. Surely that has to do something with their poor performance.
The aforementioned author, Leigh Branham, is a Senior Professional in Human Resources and Founder and Principal of Keeping the People, Inc., Mt. Juliet, TN, a talent management consulting firm that helps organizations analyze root causes of turnover and employee disengagement, and then develop and implement employer-of-choice strategies. He believes the primary reason for this comes from senior leaders who, in most companies, think that managing people is intuitive and that new managers will learn on the job.
"This is especially true in the small-to-medium-size companies that comprise most of the economy," Branham told Bored Panda. "Most new managers have little insight into how to properly coach empathically and give effective performance feedback, have difficult conversations, or how to motivate through praise and recognition—skills that are often considered 'soft' but are not intuitive for most new managers, yet make all the difference between good management and bad."
#2
Once I told my boss I was 1/3 done with the work I had to do
He said "well you better hurry the others said they has finishes 1/6 of the work"
He walked away and I just stared at him for a few seconds
Steve Smith of GrowthSource Coaching, a California-based company that, among many things, also specializes in helping business professionals become extraordinary leaders, thinks the fact that many entry-level managers are selected based on how well they performed as employees—not for their future capability as a manager—doesn't help, either.
"Additionally, they may have been asked to step up to fill an unexpected vacancy," Smith told Bored Panda. "Combine this with most companies' views on training and development (that it's only necessary to correct problems), and this is why most managers never receive training to prepare them up-front. Training opportunities usually show up only when the manager in question has made mistakes that come to the attention of HR and/or senior management."
But Smith pointed out that not everyone is cut out to be a manager. "Management takes lots of skill, but it starts with having the right mindset. As an employee, you think about 'me.' As a manager, you must think about 'we.' Providing an atmosphere and workflow that makes your staff successful in their roles is the greatest thing you can do as a manager," he said.
#3
I had a boss once who refused to register to vote because she didn’t want jury duty and then got jury duty because that’s not the only way they pick. She ended up serving for a week.
Best behave.... 2 years ago
Why would you be so determined to miss JD - I did it once and it was fascinating
Luckily for those who are motivated, there are very specific, proven principles and processes to prepare them as managers, as outlined in all three of Branham's books, Re-Engage, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, and Keeping The People Who Keep You In Business.
However, if you also find yourself in a position where you're responsible for other people but haven't had the proper training, Branham recommends you meet with each team member for one-on-one listening sessions. "Instead of asserting authority and pretending to be competent in their new role, managers should admit they don't know everything and solicit their team's ideas," he explained.
"Ask each team member: 'What ideas do you have to make the team better?' and 'What goals do you have as an individual that I can help you achieve?'"
"The skill of listening is all-too-uncommon among managers, many of whom are task-driven dominant types who are heads-down, overburdened by their own to-do lists, and have never worked for a skilled manager who might have been a role model."
Let's hope you won't end up in a similar list!
#4
My manager (*woman* who’s in nursing school) thought that women were pregnant for 12 months.
#5
I was a 20-something woman in a Mormon-owned company with a lot of branches. All the bosses were guys and all the office workers were women, and I was an anomaly ... from out of state, not Mormon, educated in math, neither boss nor secretary. Before this, I'd only had waitress jobs.
So I was in a lot of meetings with all the guys in their nice suits, excited to be allowed to do real work. It was like, 1980. It took about 10 minutes of the first meeting to realize that of the 8 or 9 guys around the conference table, only 2 or 3 were sharp. Another 2 or 3 were average, and the rest were just putting in time. The big boss, who had hired me, was an absolute moron. Unable to follow an argument if his life depended on it, which it didn't. I found out later that he'd married into the family that held this company, and the branch he was "running" was the most established and easiest to manage.
But I have a clear memory, 40 years later, of looking around that room with utter bewilderment. My folks were very working class, and I'd never questioned the assumption that they guys who wore suits and carried briefcases got to do that because they were smarter than everybody else. The truth was that my construction worker brothers and waitress friends had more on the ball than these well-paid, comfortable schlubs.
#6
Oh he straight up told me he didn't know what he was doing and was glad I was hired so I could do all the complex stuff. Good guy to work for, he trusted me to do the very technical side and he took care of the simple projects and keeping idiot managers off my back.
#7
The time he got really b***hy/passive aggressive a few months after he hired me which finally boiled over when he got mad and said "I HIRED YOU BECUASE I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO RUN THIS COMPANY FOR ME!"
I'm a graphic designer by the way.
Serial pacifist 2 years ago
I bet that you got very graphic in explaining to him what the job of each one of you implied
#8
When he told me instead of taking my new higher paying job I should just work more hours at my current one for him.
Serial pacifist 2 years ago
Yeah, you don’t need money if you spend your entire lifetime at work.
#9
Dropped a ton of cash renting art from a museum's art bank for our (decrepit Chinatown) office. Then didn't have money to pay salaries.
#10
When I created functions for similar procedures instead of copying & pasting the exact same code & modifying it in various spots throughout the program.
"What if we hire a developer that doesn't know how to use functions?"
Then we shouldn't have f*****g hired them.
#11
I write ": )" on papers I grade for a professor. He accused me of writing slurs in my native language even though it's just a f*****g smiley face.
#12
When she told me I should have no problem with this new task because "it's not rocket scientist". Also, she says "pacifically". 🙄
#13
When they fired the woman who did HR (she wasn't qualified for it, and had no training to do it so whatever), and I overheard the owner/boss have this conversation with a co-worker.
Boss: "So, what is HR anyway?"
Co-Worker: "Human Resources"
B: "Yeah, but, like, what do they do?"
CW: "Well, they take care of employee conflicts, deal with internal complaints, stuff like that"
B: "Well, we don't need that. Besides, you can do that"
So now we don't have HR, and bonus, the co-worker they were talking to deals with conflict by telling people to "fill out a hurt feelings report". And yes, it is a family owned/operated business.
#14
My manager told me to mop the breakroom floor. I did. She freaked out that it was slippery (two seconds after I was done).
#15
At my old job, (hardware, paint, tools etc) they promoted this weirdo. One of his first orders was for us to all start wearing big yellow buttons that just said "YES" in black block lettering. The idea being, that no matter what a customer wanted, we had to provide it. I asked them, "well, what happens if they're asking for a product that doesn't exist?". Which happened more often than you'd like. He said to "just figure it out for them". OK then, good talk.
And if he ever heard me telling a customer that "I'm sorry, but semi-solid water-based oil ceiling and boat paint in a matte gloss finish doesn't exist", he would come up, cut me out of the conversation, then sell them something that wasn't anywhere close to what they needed. Resulting in returns that were almost impossible to talk about with the angry customer without saying "I'm sorry but YES, my boss is an idiot".
#16
Spends money on "fun events" instead of hiring people when we are understaffed severely.
Paul C. 2 years ago
We used to have a company BBQ for about 200 people. The new PA to the boss tried to take over everything and booked a band for about Ten Thousand Pounds. Nobody famous, just a tribute band who were bang average. A local group for a couple of hundred quid and beers would have been far better. She didn't last long.
#17
Teacher
Had an admin who was a Basketball coach and ISS teacher for his whole career. Got his masters online while in the ISS room
Came in one day, saw me teaching, got mad a kid was in the back not paying attention. 'We gotta get everyone infinitelway!'
'33 of 34 kids in this room are passing Geometry, my room is the only one that kid hasnt been kicked out multiple times this year, and he is nice and polite in here.'
"Doesnt matter! He needs to take notes and pay attention!"
TLDR; got written up for one of the worst kids in the school sitting silently at the back of my room, causing 0 issues, because he wasn't working. That kid pulled off a 77 on the final and passed with a 61%..
Katherine Boag 2 years ago
Some kids you have to let clown around, thats how they pay attention. Also those teacher/student ratios...
#18
He couldn’t do basic math while pretending to have a master. Couldn’t use Excel either...
#19
I told my boss since he wouldn’t listen to me we needed an industrial engineer to make our dept/machine more efficient. He said, “no way in hell are we bringing in an engineer.” 3 weeks later my company hired an engineer and when they came to our Dept the engineer asked him what he wanted to do differently he froze turned and said, “well let’s go talk to Themonkeymen he’s worked here a long time he knows what needs to be done.” ... this boss makes at least double my salary if not more
#20
Working as a pastry chef for a catering company: My boss would eat the pastries I'd prepped for tastings, even though he was "on a diet" and "it couldn't be him." He finally stopped blaming it on the cleaning staff when the other manager threatened to look at the security cameras.
Also, I had never worked in a commercial setting before that job, but I streamlined the inventory and ordering system two days after starting, showed them that their pricing model for desserts was bleeding money, and then gave my notice six months later when it turned out the boss had lied about there being health coverage. (I turned 26, so couldn't be on my parents' plan anymore.)
#21
When I worked in construction, the director was a guy who couldn't use Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Like at all. He couldn't even (or wouldn't even) open a blank page. He also didn't know what sequence design worked, didn't know what piles were, and read contracts on the fly. He just had a very commanding presence and talked like a politician. But you talked to him about details for 10 minutes and you learned he didn't know S**T. Like he seriously bullshitted his entire career with gift of gab.
#22
She has no idea about basic 101 things related to our industry that a fresh intern could demonstrate on the spot. Now, every job I do I have to explain from the beginning what it is, why we're doing it and why it's important. She nods, makes an "insightful" comment, then forgets it completely. I'm the only one on my team with actual experience in certain areas, and naturally have to do all the work in those areas. When it comes time for the credit, it's a "team effort" where she led from the front.
#23
When they wanted to charge $30 for 4 items and $70 for 8.
#24
I worked for a production company that never put a dollar into advertising our products.
#25
When he keeps asking me why the inventory looks "dirty" (physically dirty) and doesn't care about the accuracy of it.
My job doesn't even have anything to do with the warehouse. I'm an ops analyst
#26
I worked for a mid-sized engineering and manufacturing company. The owner had started the company from scratch. He had several patents to his name,proprietary machining processes, and a loyal costumer base.
His son, not so much. Nepotism ruined the company. You couldn't keep qualified staff and needless to say, that loyal customer base disappeared in short order.
The son I'm sure made bank, just not long term.
Cathrine Simone 2 years ago
Nepotism, an extremely relevant word for today; that does not get enough *blame*.
#27
She needed to send an e-mail to somebody really important. So she forwarded me a long e-mail exchange they had and told me which one of those e-mails needed to be replied to. Instead of replying herself she wanted ME to replay but she e-mailed me what I had to reply with. She included an image she needed me to insert into the body of the e-mail. She didn't know how to insert an image into the body of an e-mail and is why I had to send this e-mail from MY e-mail account on HER behalf.
The image she wanted me to insert was a screenshot of nothing but text. It was about 6 words.
#28
Asks me to do stuff that helps no one or makes nothing better. He has us doing stuff that he literally can't explain why.
Laurence Thomas 2 years ago
Because he wants to feel powerful and in control, and is in denial that he's more of a hindrance.
#29
She told me to look up something, what she asked me to look up she had access to. It took her 5 minutes to come to my office to ask me to look up something that would’ve taken her .3 seconds to look up on her own computer. Also she had no idea the other CSR had for years not charged people for services and the other was taking two hour lunches and two 45 minute breaks. She was an absolute idiot that was paying five people to do the work of two.
#30
My boss thinks he is a programmer.
(SQL) He told me he did not like that I have one table that contains both active and inactive computers with a field that indicates active\inactive and told me (demanded) tha I should create 2 tables one for each computer state.
What do you think ?
Chich 2 years ago
We had recieved an important document which was circulated through the office for people to read. Got it back and I found that a critical map was missing. Sent emails asking everyone if they had removed/seen it. Nothing. A week later I'm in my supervisors office. Close the door and there it is taped up. He liked the looks of it and had cut it out. Yes he had seen the emails. Yes he knew it was importand and hard to replace. No he did not see what the problem was.
Deson 2 years ago
At an older job where I used to test donated Computers along with other electronics before pricing them and shipping out to stores for resale. A new assistant manager tried informing me that it "only takes 30 seconds to test a donated computer". He wouldn't hear otherwise. He accused me selling him a turntable that didn't work after I tested it and found it fine ( a higher end model). Only 3 wires (2 of them plug in and a grounding cord) and he had it wrong. I showed him (and even drew out a diagram) of how to hook it up properly to his amp. This was a guy who tried to tell me how to do my job when even he didn't know how.
Sinkvenice 2 years ago
I used to work at a private MRI clinic in London. The owner hired his friend to manage the entire clinic, even though her background was in catering and had never once worked in a clinical/medical environment. I had to train her about everything and she was earning about £100k more than me.
Chich 2 years ago
We had recieved an important document which was circulated through the office for people to read. Got it back and I found that a critical map was missing. Sent emails asking everyone if they had removed/seen it. Nothing. A week later I'm in my supervisors office. Close the door and there it is taped up. He liked the looks of it and had cut it out. Yes he had seen the emails. Yes he knew it was importand and hard to replace. No he did not see what the problem was.
Deson 2 years ago
At an older job where I used to test donated Computers along with other electronics before pricing them and shipping out to stores for resale. A new assistant manager tried informing me that it "only takes 30 seconds to test a donated computer". He wouldn't hear otherwise. He accused me selling him a turntable that didn't work after I tested it and found it fine ( a higher end model). Only 3 wires (2 of them plug in and a grounding cord) and he had it wrong. I showed him (and even drew out a diagram) of how to hook it up properly to his amp. This was a guy who tried to tell me how to do my job when even he didn't know how.
Sinkvenice 2 years ago
I used to work at a private MRI clinic in London. The owner hired his friend to manage the entire clinic, even though her background was in catering and had never once worked in a clinical/medical environment. I had to train her about everything and she was earning about £100k more than me.
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