You know the kind of boss who abuses their power and mistreats their employees. The supervisor is toxic and just a miserable bully. They delight in embarrassing their staff and know what buttons to push to instill panic in their employees. Wouldn’t it be nice to make the noxious supervisor or manager disappear with a magic wand? I say fire them. In American culture, some people assume an aggressive boss can keep their people in line or make them produce more results. However, choices to remain in a toxic job is generally the choice of the employee. There is a difference in leading people and managing people. When it comes down to the fact that the work culture is toxic—it’s time to make a decision.
If you want to fire the boss who is toxic—it may come down to leaving a bad job to find another. Or it may come down to working for yourself. It boils down to always being ready to find another job or working as an entrepreneur. However, is everything in place? Updated resume, savings in the bank, and a willingness to be uncomfortable to explore the unknown are tools to successfully firing the toxic boss. In American culture, following some trends can swallow up savings that could be used to start a new business. It’s incredible how many people live hand to mouth each paycheck.
Drinking coffee at home instead of purchasing it on the run can save money that can be used
to pay for equipment to become an entrepreneur. The startup costs to create a business can be costly in some cases, but worth it in the long run. Training to find another job may cost money. Where do you come up with this money if you need it? Often times, things in the garage and attic can be sold to garner money. Working for a toxic boss is always a choice—is it worth the pain and suffering? A friend of mine worked for a toxic supervisor and realized that a lot of his money was spent seeing a psychologist and other doctors due to chronic stress.
One day, he had enough of the harmful behavior from his boss and wrote a resignation letter firing the bully boss. My friend (David) wrote a letter telling his boss that he was tired of working for a boss that demeaned him and treated him unprofessionally. He shared times when the boss had been very disrespectful to him in front of others and shared other acts of incivility in his letter.
David placed the resignation letter on his boss’s desk while he was out to lunch. He packed up his personal items and never looked back at his old job. Sure—he was anxious and uncertain about his future. He had no job lined up and began submitting target resumes to other companies. Within a few months, he landed a job. David is now working where he is treated with respect and appreciated for the talent he brings to the company.
How did David handle not working for a few months? He had saved money for this opportunity. He reduced eating out and spending money on things he did not need. In the end, it worked out pretty well for him. It all comes down to firing the toxic boss if that is the case and moving forward in a happier job. I reflect back on leaving my toxic job and how I have been able to spend lots of time with my elderly parents over the past six years. I work for myself because I fired my bosses years ago. They abused their power and I decided to empower myself and fire them. If you need to fire a toxic boss—what is the most empowering thing you can do for yourself? For more articles on standing up for yourself and your employees, check out this.
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This post is republished on Medium.
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