Tell us about bosses you have had - from the sublime, to the ridiculous...

Am intrigued as to how LtEve got her own back.

Scooz typos

The worst:

Back in my media days. Total power hungry lunatic eho ruled by fear and intimidation. A horrible bully, made numerous competent, capable staff members cry/go off sick/leave.... also a raging mosigynist and top letch . Nobody was sorry when he was marched out of the building by security for downloading porn at work

Have had a few awful managers in the education sector, too. People with no management or people skills whatsoever, who had just hung on in there somehow for ten or twenty years, through redundancies and restructures, and ended up with management positions. The worst was just completely and utterly workshy and filled her diary with imaginary meetings so she could go shopping or hide in her office talking to her mates on the phone. Everyone knew she did nothing, but she sucked up to the senior managers big time, so there was really nothing anyone could do about it.

The best managers I have had (can think of two) have been genuinely great people managers - personable, interested in developing staff, very clear about what they want you to achieve, and then hands off about letting you get on with it, but with an open door policy if you need more guidance.

After many quite mixed experiences I had a wonderful female manager who actually wanted to develop my skills and encouraged me to do things I thought I couldn't. Not surprisingly it was my best job ever and we are still v good friends.

I also once worked with a lovely man who gave me an opportunity to do a much coveted task that would normally have been his. Our manager called me in to ask if he was 'coping'! A truly sad reflection of my industry!

Worst boss was when I worked in a video rental store (yes, it was a long time ago!). Previous boss in that job was a lovely bloke promoted against his will and this woman was promoted to shop manager in his place, as the rest of us (3, two of us had young families, the other was a student) were all pt.

She made all sorts of last minute changes to shifts (most picked up by the student) claiming she was a lone parent and had childcare problems; I'd have been more sympathetic if she wasn't still living with her own parents and several adult siblings. She lied routinely about the most astonishing bollox, and capped it all by telling me one evening as I arrived for work that my shifts had changed to hours she knew I couldn't do. She then made the tactical error of going to the loo before going home, so I walked out... I had an interview already lined up a few days later for a far better job, and got it, so ner ner ner ner ner. When I spoke to my co-workers, neither of them knew anything about shift changes, and the other mother, who had been picking up some of the manager's childcare, refused to do so any more, so a bit of a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot moment there.

Best boss was probably in the job I took after that, she was sympathetic and supportive and wrote me the loveliest reference when I left (because we were moving across country). It was a totally different work culture.

I worked for one senior manager who claimed to shoot fish with a bow and arrow and to be able to kill a man with a single blow.
We were all very, very cautious around him...just in case.

What did you do Eve?

Worst boss did too many unbelievable things to list here. The best one was cornering me in a store room to tell me that two named colleagues had complained about me being rude and arrogant and that I needed to show a little humility. When questioned by HR as part of the investigation into the 4-page grievance I submitted about her the two people named had no idea that they had said these things and gave me glowing character references. She was a very nasty piece of work who managed to get 4 of my colleagues sacked before she was finally shown the door.

Other bad boss was a lovely chap but also a delusional conspiracy theorist. I had to listen to his theories several times a day and then had to run the small office without him for 3 months when he refused to come in because I was an HMRC agent sent to spy on him

Best boss - was nominated by parents for an MBE for services to education. She knew everything that went on in that school, knew every child well and was a brilliant teacher in her own right. She was brilliant with staff and bent over backwards to help/support or encourage us. Absolutely inspirational.
At the other end of the scale: boss who talked a good talk but hopeless in practice. Deliberately withheld information during an inspection to make himself look good. Booked cover for himself - costing the school money to go on various course. We, as a staff became suspicious as it is was becoming every other day. It was discovered that these "courses" were made up and he was using the time to conduct an affair. He was, whilst this was being investigated, walked in on, in his office receiving oral sex from another woman and got involved in a fist fight with a dad over yet another affair.
Of course, he didn't lose his job. He got moved sideways then promoted. After all, he was golfing buddies with the director of education in this area.

Worst boss - bullied young soldiers into having vaccinations they didn't need with threats of demotion, bullied older soldiers into the same vaccinations by promising to "send them straight to the front line" if they didn't have them. When I gave a perfectly understandable (and confidential) reason for having the vaccination slightly later (5 days - I was 'late' and the medical centre had agreed to test after a week, then vacc if I wasn't pg) he asked then DP in front of 30 other guys "what was he going to do if LtEve was knocked up". At that point I hadn't actually told DP. Same guy told a Squadron of men "I don't care how many losses we take, as long as we come back with some gongs" Not exactly a rousing 'night before a battle' speech.

He routinely reduced rough tough squaddies to tears, destroyed a great family of men and took pride in his "Spoilt B'Stard" nickname.

Thankfully he was the worst in 24 years. And I did take the chance to get my own back to great effect.

My grouchy cow of a last boss asked me if i thought i was suited to work in retail and then told me when i handed in my resignation that i wasn't the face the company wanted. I almost asked her if this trying-to-be-posh bath and body product company wanted someone who could speak understandable English to the many tourists and was presentable (if slightly eccentric of hair colour) verses a wee Glesga keelie with dyed black hair and a perma-tan, who is at best brusque on the phone and often downright rude in person. I was soooooooo glad to move on! I long to see her and tell her what i think of her!

I had a boss who I learnt not to talk to after his regular liquid lunch. He stare at my boobs and rant away for hours and hours. Was lovely and respectful before 1pm though!

Had some awful bosses including the one who left me to run the cookie selling kiosk on my own as every member of staff in the place bar me left the building on a smoking break. For 30 minutes. On my second day. Miracle I lasted three months.

I had another boss who went xmas shopping on one of the busiest shopping days of the year for 4 hours, turning his phone off, when he was supposed to be on shop floor. We had a customer ask to see the manager 30 mins in and refused to leave until he came back. It was brutal. We got her food and a cup of tea because we were so embarrassed. We even had to cover when the area manager phoned asking for him. He was a knob.

Best boss - I'm marrying him next year

Best boss 1 - wonderful lady who stood up for me against a head teacher. Im a careers adviser and the head wanted to know why an A* student wasnt applying for his 6th form and why I had told her not to. I hadnt, we had discussed her options as I would do with anyone else. She firmly pointed out to the head that the student had religious beliefs which meant that she wasnt interested in studying full time and that I had discussed a part time programme with the head of 6th form amongest other options. The truth was that numbers for 6th form were down and he needed to explain it to the govdnors. The head had called a formal meeting to go through this. Boss 1 explained all this to him and then asked me to leave his office when I believe she torn him a new bumhole and said that she would make a formal complaint if he ever tried to bully any more of her staff.

Boss 2 - quite happy to cover reception and anything else to make sure people had breaks. A real team player.

Boss 3 - current one. Can talk to her about anything and she will always make time to listen. She treats everyone fairly across the board which isnt always easy.

Boss 4 - worst one. Complete ladette. Got drunk and leary when on a residential in a lovely quiet country retreat hotel. The comissioners were paying for this event. It was awful the following morning at breakfast.

worst boss: Fed Haribo to my guide dog. Booked a team lunch at a pub which was only accessible by car and then told me I would be unable to attend as it would be unfair to expect anyone to take me plus said guide dog. Told me I would never be promoted because of my disability. Someone reported her to the equal opportunities officer and she called me into her office to demand to know why I felt I had the right to talk to anyone, and demanding to know how I was going to put it right. After I left (I was moving anyway) I found out that someone else had taken her to court for changing her contract to a temporary contract while she was on maternity leave so she could then get rid of her.

In my very first job the teamleader sacked a member of staff in front of the whole team. the manager of the team was bisexual and would spend his time talking about the fantastic sex he'd had with his boyfriend an then his previous girlfriend, going into intimate detail....Nice enough bloke but seriously lacking in boundaries.

Another boss would get phone calls saying her dog had escaped and was shagging a dog down the road, she would jump in her car to go and fetch him without hesitation. she lived 30 miles away so it wasn't exactly a quick trip....

Best boss was the one before my current one - she was lovely. Very supportive, had my back if I needed it and gave me freedom to do my job effectively.

Worst boss was the second one when I started my career - he was arrogant, narcissistic and bullying. The staff hated him and yet were frightened of what he would do and say. He talked to everyone like we were nothing and make people cry (men and women!)

He used to not bother coming in or lie in bed or go see his mate and we would have to cover for him or go to the house and bang on the door to get him to come in or to tell him to ring head office or whatever. Complete nightmare. Showed me what a manager shouldn't be for sure.

I have had some fabulous bosses over the years, but also 2 that were beyond awful.

Boss 1: Small open plan office. He asks his PA: Could you please tell Pippi xyz. Within earshot. PA then walks over to me and tells me what he just told her. Again, he can hear everything that she says to me. The whole place was bonkers and I quit within a week.

Boss 2: Very small company, a lot of remote working. He either wasn't in when I was supposed to meet him or he left me sitting in his office on my own while he watched Mad Men in the kitchen. I actually had to tell him "I am only here because I need x, y and z from you. I cannot leave or do any more work until I have x, y and z." My blood pressure is rising just thinking about him!

My first boss was awful. She was the ward manager, I was at that time a HCA. She was lazy, would gossip, belittle you, ignore your concerns and had a habit of taking lots of annual leave, more than her entitlement. She used to have two sets of off duty, the one we had access to and her 'other' copy minus her annual leave. How she got away with it I'll never know as it was common knowledge.

I left to start my training, I found out after, that before I was given the job, she had read out my application form to the ward staff during morning report. She had no concern for confidentiality. I did complain and nothing came of it.

I was glad to leave.

My current boss is wonderful. An inspirational leader and a gentleman. The business is really struggling to survive right now and he hasn't been paid for nearly 6 months but still turns in to try and save the business and make sure the staff get paid. He totally rocks!

When I was a teen, I had a Saturday job in a tea and coffee shop (not drinks, tea/teabags/coffee beans etc), run by an incredibly delightful chap who had retired from his career as a tea taster in Sri Lanka and then ran this shop to keep him out from under his wifes feet. It had a 40 year old tea bag machine and was filled with proper tea chests and the sort of customers who would come in for a sit down and a chat about the cricket (he was a member of the MCC). I loved him so much I used to go and help out at Christmas even when I had a real job because he got a bit flustered if it was busy.

Another job, in my early twenties, the boss used to call you into the office and ply you with evangelical leaflets. Christmas merited a special chat about how it wasn't cause for celebration, and before I got married I got a lecture on my wifely duties

Lovely boss: chap who stood up for us and guarded us from management crap leaving us clear to do our jobs. He expected us to work hard and well at had no truck with presenteeism. At 5pm he'd tell us to get our coats.
Bad boss: A bloke who was with us for 3 months during which time he brought the department to the point of mutiny. Lies, rumour and counter rumour were rife until someone got hold of the CEO and it was sorted.

Worst boss: in my 20's, I worked in a role that involved in-house customer service, for want of a better term - people within the organisation would either phone or call in to our office for asistance they needed.

It was Christmas Eve. I was due to travel back from London to my family by train (standard nightmare rail journey) after work. A 200-mile journey. Getting to the station early would have been a real help.

There were 2 of us on duty in the 'customer assistance' role, everyone else had taken leave. The boss was lurking in her office. She and the other person on duty with me were both London-based, lived alone and had easy, short journeys back home.

After approximately 3 hours sitting drumming our fingers with absolutely nothing to do, and no calls for assistance, my colleague suggested I should just go, because she could cope with any calls that came in - obviously, nothing was going to happen by that stage. It was about 5 pm and I was due to finish at 6.

As I sneaked past the boss's office, she shot out and demanded to know where I was going. Then marched me back to the office in disgrace. Where I sat for another hour of ZERO calls. And eventually got to Euston at peak time and had to virtually engage in hand-to-hand combat to fight my way on to the train.

I have never forgotten, or forgiven

Years ago I worked shifts.
In the interview I said the only shift I couldn't do was the last shift on a Sunday night because there were no buses to get me home.
I was told no problem,thats fine.

My manager knew my close friend at the time.

I was only there a couple of weeks when I was asked to do lates on a Sunday,I said I am sorry but I explained in my interview that I would not be able to get home on a Sunday.

The manager its ok I have phoned your friend and she said you can sleep at her house and share a bed with her dd.

I told her no thank you I would rather sleep in my own bed in my house.

My mum died when I was 21 years old and working 500 miles away from where I grew up. I took three weeks off of work, 2 when she was rushed into a hospice and a week after the funeral. On my return my boss had reorganised the team and I dealt with mail. She had very kindly organised my work so that the top dozen pieces of mail were people reporting a death.

That year at my appraisal, she said, 'I know your mum died this year, but it's not really an excuse for the standard of work you've turned in'

Awful boss when i was 17. If I wasn't finished by a certain time she would go home and turn the lights off on me while I was working. She also took the filing cabinet keys home making me believe i had lost them, because I had left them out on the side for a second. I didn't sleep all night. She waved them in my face the next morning saying 'looking for these Sparkling?'

Best boss- wonderful supportive woman who knew her stuff and was happy to share. Always had her teams back. She really understood how to get the most out of people without bullying.
Worst- picked his nose constantly always touching my keyboard leaning over me. Told me he had sacked someone (no real reason) and when I texted them to say how sorry I was it turned out he had told the entire office before her