I heard in a documentary that a lot of narcissists are in executive and manager positions because it gives them the power and control they crave.

The manager in this story seems to fit that bill and it’s not healthy. But follow along to see where his micromanagement gets him.

“Everything is urgent all of the time, you have to prioritize everything”

I have two young kids and at this point in my life I’m not doing late night meetings or weekend reports.

The company worked from home 50%, except my boss “didn’t believe in WFH” so we were 100% in the office, even when COVID was at its highest, and the city was flooded and the commute was dangerous.

OP’s boss is old school in other unhealthy ways, too.

I told him I was overwhelmed, that I had too much work to meet all deadlines, and he told me that I have to prioritize everything, because he considers everything urgent.

When I asked what is most urgent, what should I do first, he told me “everything.”

You get the idea of his approach.

The company worked with flexitime, as long as your hours equal 37.5 each week, 7.5 hours per day average, but my boss demanded those hours be worked between 9am and 5pm.

I used to start work at 7am, hit the gym in the morning around 9:30am for 45 minutes.

When I joined his team he didn’t like this and set up meetings around that time so I couldn’t go to the gym.

He expected frequent email updates on what I was doing and would send arbitrary deadlines.

Then sweet, satisfying relief.

Eventually, I found a new role elsewhere.

I recently met up with a colleague from that team, a week after I left my now ex-boss was demoted, no longer manages anybody, and has a much stricter schedule himself, now that he reports to someone.

My old team are now much happier, and much more productive.

I’m thinking about applying for the now vacant role as his boss.

Here’s what people are saying.

It’s like people who have neglectful parents. They learn what not to do and it helps them give their kids a better life than they had.

A lot of people pointed this out. It’s true! If hospital triage worked that way, a lot of patients would die.

One of many insightful comments on this thread. Sounds right on the money.

That would be a good feeling, but carrying resentment around for too long is unhealthy.

Excellent point. It means that a lot of things get neglected, including any long-term goals. Staying in survival mode for no reason makes no business sense.

Life is too short to work for people like this.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.