Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™ (TOT): How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job

Chapter 7. Self-Centeredness

About Self-Centeredness

"I suggested the yellow background on the presentation cover. It looks sharp, don't you think? Let me tell you how I got the Pawlife account in the first place, because it wasn't a picnic."

You don't get another word in for the entire meeting. Your boss takes all the questions from the staff, gives all the answers, and acts as if she alone discovered the heartbreak of bad canine breath. So who gets invited to the VIP kick-off dinner? One hint ... not you.

But Why?

Sometimes TOTs behave as if they exist in a universe created solely for their own gratification. Like the toddlers who won't let anyone else near their stuff, the self-absorbed TOT won't let anyone else near whatever kudos or fun the workplace might yield. It's not that your TOT purposely wants to sabotage you or deny you satisfaction at work; it's that she wants it all for herself. With a self-centered TOT, your needs don't even enter into the picture.

This kind of TOT rarely engages in anything that doesn't result in immediate benefit to herself. If she assigns you a challenging new project and you succeed, she'll find a way to make it look like her brilliant idea. If she enters your cubicle with a question, it probably has to do with something she wants for herself. And if by some miracle she invites you out to lunch, the conversation will go something like this:

TOT

"I've ...