Getting Bossed Around

I have been in IT for a long time now and I have had a lot of bosses, most of them bad. Sure there have been a few good ones in there but this industry no one seems to know how to mange. So here is a summary of every manager I have had in this field. I am only using first names for this for obvious reasons. I am also limiting this to direct reports becuase we all know that in todays corporate enviroment you can't have enough middle management.

Bob, IRI – My first boss was Bob. He hired me at IRI so I have him to blame for my career. Bob was 50ish and was a severe alcoholic. He kept a bottle of Jim Beam in his desk and each day he went to a dive bar called Apple’s for lunch where he would down a bunch of Old Style. Having Bob for a boss was good and bad. On the one hand I could pretty much come and go as I pleased and Bob would have no idea what was what. However, I also had no direction and my group was left to twist in the wind since we had virtually no leader. Eventually Bob was fired due mainly to his drinking.

Lorene, IRI – From Bob I was moved onto Lorene’s team. Now I worked with her son and we were friendly and that may have helped in her perception of me. I personally loved working for her. Lorene was as fair as they come. If you did a good job she left you alone. If you were a slacker she would ride you and micro mange you to tears. A lot of people couldn’t stand working for her, but she was always fair with me and I never had an issue with her. She backed me with the clients and if all managers were like her I would have a much better view on this field. Sadly, Lorene left IRI and I was to be moved to another boss.

Carey, IRI – Carey was a coke fiend and a joke. At first I liked the guy, as he seemed so wired all the time that he basically left me alone. Then slowly he changed. I think he was trying to clean up his act so he took this as a sign to become a strict manager. Unfortunately, he had no idea what was going on and didn’t have any clue on how to manage in the service field. Carey was a spineless worm who would do anything to make himself look good at the cost of others. He was one of the reasons I left IRI.

John, VanKampen – When I left IRI and started consulting my first gig was at Vankampen. There I was managed by a techno geek named John. He was a quiet soft-spoken guy. There was a sadness about him and I would later come to find out he was going through a divorce as his wife had left him for another man. His head was somewhere else during my entire three-month tenure. Thus he left his underlings to run things, which was a disaster. I can’t say he was a bad guy and I admit I caught him at a bad time but as a manager he was quite incompetent.

Austin, Monsanto – When I moved to Monsanto I was working under Austin, who was to quote Office Space, “A no talent ass clown.” He might be the worst manager I’ve ever worked for. He didn’t talk much and when he did he grunted. He was a womanizer and every woman he hired he either had slept with or was trying to. Therefore, he didn’t even look at the men in his group. All of his efforts were directed at getting laid and he promoted only women. This one bimbo came in and he actually made me take her technical test so he could validate her hiring. A complete prick and I hope is cleaning elephant shit out of some cage at a zoo.

Kim, Monsanto – I didn’t work for her long but in the short time that I did I didn’t find her to be all that competent. She played favorites and was never in the office. She was inserted when IBM took over at Monsanto and was a bit of a company woman. I only worked for her for three months so as I said it was hard to give her a real assessment.

Jackie, Harris Bank – My first boss at Harris was Jackie. She was in her late 30’s to early 40’s and was a complete mess. I was in there, as a consultant and I survived which was no small miracle. She went through consultants like water. She was going through a divorce when I first got hired and was kind of in a men suck mood. She was clueless as to what was going on and was about as effective as a paper towel would be soaking up Niagara Falls. Still, she seemed to like me and when the Y2K project for which I was hired on got going she partnered me up with Joyce which went a long way to us eventually getting married so I guess I owe her something.

Frank, Harris Bank – Just a great guy. One of the best, if not the best boss I’ve ever had. He was fair and let you do your thing without much interference. He pushed for me to get hired and ended my consulting days. To this day I owe this guy a great debt of gratitude. Sadly, the Bank really screwed him and he eventually got so pissed that he just up and quit. No notice, nothing. I only worked for Frank for about seven months but they were a glorious seven months.

Elizabeth, Harris Bank – After Frank left I got put in this woman Liz’s group. It was like going from heaven to hell. She was condescending, belittling and arrogant. What she had to be arrogant about I have no idea, but she was. Everybody on our team hated her. She had no people skills and wasn’t very good technically either. I don’t know who she had pictures of to get her job but it must have been someone higher up. Thankfully, I didn’t work for her for very long as she got another position soon after taking over our team.

Peggy, Harris Bank – After Liz left we were put under this lady Peggy’s control. In the four months I worked for her I didn’t have one direct conversation with her. She was managing another team and since Liz left so abruptly they had no idea who should replace her. So, we were basically managing ourselves, which actually worked out. I have no opinion of Peggy what so ever other then she did leave us alone to do our job.

Susana, Harris Bank – Eventually I was put under Susana’s control. Now, I got along with her just fine and she really liked me. However, she was really tough on the women of the group. It is funny, every man in our group loved her and all the women hated her. I think she was like Austin at Monsanto but with men not women in playing favorites. I worked for her for a little over a year and a half and in that time I had no complaints. But, if I had breasts there may have been some problems.

Tim, Harris Bank – Susana took another spot in the bank and I was put on Tim’s team. Tim was Frank’s brother and was equally as good of a boss as one could ask for. I worked for Tim for rest of my tenure at Harris. He was honest, would back you, and I know my entire team loved working for him. I was found of saying at the time that Tim was the best boss I had ever had in my entire career and he was with his brother right behind him. He was not the reason I left the bank. Sadly once we were outsourced he was talking of leaving, as we were all unhappy. He was even so kind as to write me a letter of recommendation when he knew I was interviewing. Just a great boss.

Mike, Bank One – When I got hired at the bank, I was hired on to Mike’s team. HE brought me into the bank, so I can blame him. Honestly, I only worked for the guy for two months and he seemed like a nice enough guy. He was sarcastic as hell, which fit my sense of humor so, in the short time I worked for him I had no complaints.

Hutch, Bank One – Hutch was a good leader but had some issues. On the one hand he would go to bat for his team like no one I have ever seen before. He had a rough and kind of jock mentality when it came to managing, which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Still, he showed a lot of confidence in me early on and he stayed out of my hair and let me do my job. For that I can’t say anything bad about the guy.

Tiffany, Bank One – Then there was Tiffany. A two-faced liar if there ever was one. A Texas imported joke of a manager. I have posted how she had burned me so I won’t go into the details. She was as ineffective of a boss as I have ever had. She basically let her underlings run things while she argued with her daughter on the phone all day. That was unless she was doing a crossword puzzle. I worked for her for a little over a year and it was a long year.

Tom, JPM Chase – Tom is my current boss and he is really cool. He doesn’t over-manage and doesn’t call excessive meetings. He has been at the bank over 20 years and really knows the environment and how to handle people. A great communicator and effective leader. Gallop was hired to do a survey of the Bank’s managers and Tom had the highest scores ever in the history of this particular Gallop pole. That should say it all about what a good boss Tom is.