Marcus Buckingham, researcher of high performance at work and co-author of the book Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World, says that great managers know and value the unique abilities and even the eccentricities of their employees, and they learn how best to integrate them into a coordinated plan of attack. Bad ones, on the other hand, are... abundant. And they're bringing down everyone around them. So when Reddit user Ssteepballet asked others on the platform to share the "screw you" that they served their toxic bosses, people submitted plenty of colorful stories.
#1
At a previous job, I had been the SME during development of a new lead management system (big bank, millions of customers). I got two hour notice that it’d be my last day, and so anything important needed to be wrapped up quick.
I had been letting my boss know for like a year that I was the only person with admin access to the system settings, and that someone else should have that. They weren’t concerned, it seemed to be working fine.
Anyway, off I go to find a new job. About a month later I get a text from my old boss asking me to coffee. I declined. Then I got a call asking me how to change some settings. They were closing branches, and leads kept getting assigned to the closed locations. I told him I’d be happy to train someone, but at my consulting fee rate (I didn’t have a consulting fee). He was pissed.
A week or so later, he calls back and says fine. They’ll do it. So I ask if I’m an approved vendor. Obviously, I’m not. He sends me a packet, and I complete it. Weeks go by, the vendor management team finally approves me.
I’ve been gone like 2 months by this point, so I draw up a bid proposal. I estimated the training at $10,000. He called me back and pitched a fit.
So I made a website on GoDaddy. I pretended to be a white hat hacker specializing in the type of software they use. It was a good looking website, if I do say so myself. I leaned in hard on the terms I knew they’d be looking for.
A few days later, the phone rings. It’s my boss’ boss. I about couldn’t get through the call as he’s describing all of these problems they’re having accessing their data. So I told him it sounded like a problem I could solve. I wrote up a bid at $10,000 PLUS EXPENSES. Half up front, half on completion.
It was accepted right away. I emailed the password and the name of the drive where they could find the training docs. My phone rang right away, I can’t even describe how pissed the voice on the other end was. “No way in hell” would they be paying the other half.
I referenced the contract, said that I’d be more than happy to let a lawyer take a look, and go from there. He hung up.
A few days later, I got my other $5K. It was pretty helpful in bridging the gap until I started my new job.
