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Question, for those with more experience,

I have a boss that acts completely unprofessionally when something goes wrong. 99% of the time, of course, my department is running great - but when something goes wrong, he blows up. Kicking or hitting chairs, cussing at me behind closed doors, etc. The really frustrating thing is that every time it happens its him getting mad that I did not remind him to do something related to his responsibilities that vaguely touch on my own.

ie the latest one, we were a week late on an order - waiting for an item from a source (it hadn't been ordered, but I didn't know that.) He was extremely upset that I did not point this out to him - when I know and he knows he has (and allegedly reviews) a list of what we are short on every morning. One of his main job responsibilities is getting us material. He never once mentioned any responsibility on his end - but he quite angrily demanded I explain why I never came up and asked him about it.

I love managing my team here, and in the 2.5 years I've been here I think I've developed the place into a well-oiled machine. Virtually all the mistakes that I get chewed out for are of the nature explained above. I currently am tossing my resume out in hopes that a better job op comes down the pipe, but in the meantime does anyone have experience dealing with this kind of person? What do you do?

jhack's picture

Mark and Mike published a 5 part podcast on just this topic: 

http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/02/bad-boss-1-angry-and-demeaning-boss...

Good advice in there.  

John Hack

Peter.westley's picture
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John's advice re the podcast is perfect. And from that, I think the key item is that if he's demanding things of you - like reminding him to check order status, or indeed checking order status yourself - then give them to him.

Not only does this remove reasons for him to have a go at you but it helps make him look good. It sounds like he might be getting routed for the same things from his boss perhaps?

Good luck,

-- Peter

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@pjwestley