6 Truly Frightening Bosses

6 Truly Frightening Bosses
Margaret Heffernan | octubre 31, 2011 6:53a.m. CST

I'm sure more people are scared of their bosses than they are of monsters, ghosts and goblins. For one thing, bosses are with us all year round - while spooks walk the streets just one night a year. But companies can be frightening places - especially if you work for one of these:


The Zombie
Numbed by economic upheavals and the impossibility of getting ahead of events, Zombie bosses have run out of ideas and energy. They don't understand innovation and fear the levels of risk that it involves. So instead they do the only thing they know that works: they turn up. Lucky enough still to have an office door, they skulk behind it waiting until it's time to go home. These walking-dead leaders generate enough revenue to keep their companies going but never enough excitement to make the business truly successful.

The Cheerleader

Every day is a fresh start, so Cheerleaders come in each morning, beautifully groomed and full of the joys of spring. They're partial to giving motivational speeches about how great the team is and how everyone's a winner. Their signature management tool is the Big Hairy Audacious Goal. They'll set absurd targets for no reason except they imagine they will get everyone pumped. Then they vanish into the night, mumbling jargon and catchphrases from their favorite management guru.

The Ghost

Once legendary over-achievers, Ghosts are burned out. They remember breakthroughs and victories and talk about them endlessly. A rich source of history and mythology, they constantly re-examine the past, finding in each past victory the key to future success. Ghosts still have charisma and people often want to work for them to understand what made them great. But what was there once is now gone. And the smart people see right through them.