Bosses Can Affect Your Health

I was reading a book today about bad boss behavior. The book mentions multiple studies that link negative boss behavior to health issues through the stress that their behavior causes. The book said that "Bosses' cruelty adversely affects employees' iniative, commitment, motivation, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and productivity and may also be implicated in the occurrence of headaches, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, sleep disturbances, dermatalogical problems, sexual dysfunction, and even murder." At first I thought this sounds to me like a lot of people just being big, wimpy babies. As I read the book further and actually read some of the stories in it about things bosses have said and done to their employees on a daily basis I'm not so sure they are being babies. I used to work for a guy who would get mad when things weren't going his way and start throwing a fit like a baby. He would say rude things to people and then send nasty little emails all written in red, bold letters accusing them of things that they didn't even do. He would threaten people and their jobs and in the end he'd find that he was wrong and there was no one to blame for things not going his way(though he and his supporters would never admit that). None of that is such a big deal when it happens to one person here and there, but the managers directly below him had to deal with the wrath which came from all of the employees when "baby boss" went on his rampage. These people had to deal with employees filing complaints, quitting, reacting in ways that got them fired. After that the managers were left with bigger work loads for themselves and no extra time or pay with which to complete all this work. Then they had to deal with the boss acting nutty toward them. One of those managers used to tell me all the time "that's just how he is and he doesn't mean anything by it." She is sick all the time now and has all sorts of cancer and bladder related issues and still can't even get a moment to herself to simply sleep or simply go on a date. I hope she realizes some day the stress her job causes to her already weakened immune system. It's a good thing that guy comes from a culture where his wife has to respect him as a man even though his body is the only manly thing about him. Cause most of the women I know wouldn't put up with a man who acts like a teen-ager or college boy without a fight and eventual divorce. I know this guy keeps em busy on Shab-e-Barat every year.

---

Technorati tags:
work issues