Bad Boss

PART I What to do if you …: work for one

I once worked for someone who was super lovely. He was kind, generous and very supportive. However, he was off-the-chart disorganised. His office was buried under piles of papers, folders, books and an overflowing desk inbox, which is what caused me the most distress in my role.

It was before the days of email (ha, yes, I really am that old!). Items would pour in, but nothing would go out. Memos and requests would get lost; very little was actioned or delegated. Due dates would come and go … and go. Then the phone calls from executives would start: Where's that report? How come we don't have this data yet?

Those urgent requests, which needed to be turned around in a day, would then land on my desk. So my day would be one long panic as I rushed around collecting whatever was needed. Of course, those details had to come from other people in the organisation, so I would have to disrupt their day in order to get the material together. I felt the impact because I looked disorganised, and I was worried about how that would dent my reputation.

One time when my boss went away on vacation, he asked me to manage his inbox. This was awesome, because then I had ample notice of what was due. When he came back, I just kept that process going. I pretty much took over his inbox, and each day I'd look at what would come in and work out what I needed to do and what I'd leave with him.

Now, you could argue that wasn't my responsibility — and it wasn't. ...