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Cell Phones Insults Threats Bullies Lies and Lying Responsiveness Self-Insight Quitting Time

Over a recent holiday weekend, according to my manager, I missed several pages. I assured him that my pager is always on and I would never ignore a page. He cursed at me and called me a liar. Meanwhile, he is notorious for ignoring pages, voicemail, and company e-mail. He has lied and threatened us with termination, and I've been told that his behavior is typical for this company. What should I do?



Your manager curses at you, threatens you, lies to you, calls you a liar, ignores communication to him, all of which is typical for this company, and you wonder what to do? Perhaps it is more appropriate to wonder why you are putting up with this nonsense in the first place.

Your manager is in the shallow end when it comes to management skills. He sounds far more like a bully, harasser, and abuser -- not exactly the criteria one seeks in a leader. You and your associates can try to discuss your concerns with him, but since he dodges pages, voicemail, and e-mail, you can expect him to dodge you as well.

Assuming that you get nowhere with him, your next stop should be with senior management. However, if your manager's behavior is truly typical for this company, you should not expect much of a reaction at this level either.

The real person to approach in this matter is yourself, and the real question is why you are staying with this company. Employees deserve to be treated with respect and trust, and if you accept anything short of that, you are shortchanging your career.




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