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KonkNaija Media | May 5, 2016

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How The Boss From Hell Can Benefit Your Career

How The Boss From Hell Can Benefit Your Career

| On 15, Sep 2014

We’ve all dealt with the hellish managers, so I chose to use my experiences to inspire my career progression. Here’s my story…

The job itself was fun. A recruitment consultant position with a great city location. I even moved to an apartment in the city to make commute easier. By month 3 I was the top consultant that division had seen in the company’s history. I worked long hours, I was up and coming, and I loved it.

And here comes the ‘but’. We’ve all heard of the boss from hell – but what I experienced sent my adrenals into overdrive on a daily basis.

Daily duties: Aside from the cold calling, keeping in touch with clients and advertising, most of my days were spent being put to task by an Overbearing Manager, who had a strong focus on managing my personal life: from how I commuted home, to taking the liberty of booking my doctors appointments with her doctor on my sick days [insert mind boggling expression here]. My objections to OM’s management decisions to put in $50-$100 for birthdays, house warmings and all life changes for every person within the building (and their children) were met with the “but you’re rich” arguments.

You wouldn’t have to stretch your imagination to fill in the blanks of the daily grind working under OM. The office focus quickly shifted from a national staffing and recruitment company as had been discussed in the initial job interview, to a nitpicking of the employees and how well they socialised with their colleagues within the office.

Major achievements: I could mention my billing records or the relationships with clients I brought to the company, but even more of a feat was surviving the Alpha Boss’ visits. With offices in different cities, AB would only make an appearance to our office every couple of weeks. The daily duties were enough with OM, but on the days AB showed up, a sauna couldn’t assist me to excrete equalling amounts of perspiration.

The Alpha Boss visits involved a succession of meetings between OM and AB to exchange gossip about employees, non-constructive criticism to assert dominance, examples from ‘back in the day’ in place of relevant training and a very distracted approach to conversations. Requests for training were met with an aggravated “if you do as well next quarter as you have this quarter, I will think about it.” It seemed the memo of investing in your employees was lost on this boss. Needless to say, this company has a constant revolving door of employees and a bucket of missed opportunities.

Not only was the company missing opportunities, I was too. While the commission structure ensured you had to bill hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company before receiving a cent, the company wasn’t offering me anything I couldn’t do for myself. I could do it all and more with low investment costs and keep my own revenue.

I just kept thinking “I love my job, enjoy my clients, ride all the curveballs of the recruiting business, I’m the best in my division and want to continue my professional growth – why are they stifling me?!” Creative by nature, I am bothered by inefficiency and driven by freedom to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. Yet here I was embroiled in a company culture that rejected ingenuity and was focused on tearing employees down.

I was moving up in the world. There was no alternative route – I had to quit these people and break the barriers they had set for my recruiting style and progression. So I did. And it was amazing. Thank you, Boss From Hell, for showing me what I do not want for my career.

What I experienced after quitting was an internal flooding of “HALLELUJAH!”

I still look back at that time with that gut wrenching feeling associated all too well with those bad memories, but what came out of it has been an incredible journey: starting out my own recruitment business Mode Recruitment & Career Services, providing modern recruitment, and personalised resume and interview assistance to job seekers world-wide.

As an entrepreneur, I am now able to:

Remain intensely concentrated on my work. Without the distraction of office gossip or commission targets, the business is dedicated to the highest level of customer service and growth.

Think outside the box and use innovation to guide expansion. With services personalised to each individual, the sentence ‘that can’t be done’ never rears its ugly head. Cookie cutter methodology as was required in my previous job is rarely well received by the client, so I am able to offer people something fresh and truly make my entrepreneurial mark on the world.

Keep a balanced, idealistic vision. Taking control of my professional life has been one of the best moves I’ve ever made. I can weigh up the pros and cons of new ventures, without a company’s limitations stopping my career’s progression.

No one’s constraints should ever obstruct you from being all that you can be in this world. You have every talent and trait inside of you to be the person you’re destined to be, if you have the tenacity to work through curveball. A part of who we are is how we is what only we can offer to another, isn’t that what ‘work’ is? And, if a boss or company is holding you back from providing your unique style of service to others, you too, can be the catalyst for your own career changes.

Story by Naomi Seselja (Founder & Principal Consultant ▪ Expert Resume Writer ▪ Interview Coach ▪ Entrepreneur)

 

Comments

  1. Great article. Thanks