A bad boss can make you say goodbye to your happiness.
You’re distressed. You’re tired. You’re disappointed. You’re demotivated. You’re angry. Everytime you talk to your boss, you come out feeling angrier and more dejected than before.
You’re frustrated because your boss is a micromanager, controlling and picky. He just wants things done in his own way, and keeps you on a short leash. You get absolutely no freedom to do what you want.
That’s a bad boss for you, ladies and gentlemen.
Before you read further, let me tell you I have written an article on how a bad boss can make a simple change in his signature, which will help him improve relations with his colleagues. Read here.
Now, let’s get back to bad bosses.
Mediocre managers kill everyone’s happiness by hoping that their employees will all be motivated by the same things and driven by the same goals.
Toxic supervisors
An article on HBR says that despite billions on dollars spent annually on managerial and leadership development, bad bosses are common in the global workforce.
A study found that 56% of American workers claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic. Similarly, a research by the American Psychological Association found that 75% of Americans say their “boss is the most stressful part of their workday.”
It’s a challenge for employees across the world to deal with toxic supervisors. A friend told me she had to quit her job because her boss was inflexible and he always wanted things done his way.
She said: “Beyond a point I had stopped using my thinking faculties. I stopped coming up with ideas because no matter what you brought up, he would reject it and ask me to do things the way he wanted.”
Handwriting: Inflexible boss
If your boss writes with a rigid left margin in handwriting, you can bid goodbye to your happiness and creativity.
A rigid left margin, according to handwriting analysis, indicates that the writer is a strict disciplinarian who keeps others as well as himself on a short leash, and he does not want to deviate from the set standards.
Let’s look at a handwriting sample with a rigid left margin.
The left margin in this representational photo is rigid, which indicates that the writer is a strict disciplinarian.
Like his rigid and inflexible left margin, the writer’s attitude and behaviours are also unbending and uncompromising.
A person who writes with a rigid left margin is driven by an avoidable need to be perfect all the time because any deviation from perfection makes him uncomfortable and insecure.
If this person gets a supervisory role in an organisation, he will, in all probability, behave like a tyrant and dry up the creative juices of the junior colleagues who report to him.
Now, an important question you may have: Is rigid left margin the only prominent handwriting feature of a bad boss? No. It’s just one of the many.
Final words
I can tell you from experience that nobody likes a disciplinarian. Having a disciplinarian for a boss is like working under an oppressive dictator.
It is not only unpleasant, but also breeds resentment and generally results in less work getting done. A disciplinarian boss is designed to impose his own style on others.
Great managers don’t try to change a person’s style. They make things better through constructive feedback and positive recommendations.
Great managers, on the other hand, don’t try to change a person’s unique style. They never try to push a bishop to move in the same way as a knight. They know that their underlings will differ in how they think, what their strong areas are, how patient they can be, what drives them and what challenges them.
In short, a great boss works with you to make things better through constructive feedback and positive recommendations.
Let’s accept it. Nobody is perfect. At least no one I know is. And if your boss is pretending to be perfect or a perfectionist, he or she is nothing but a posey pig.
Got an experience to share? Let us know in the comment box.
Disclaimer: One element of handwriting may be analysed at a time, but always look at the entire handwriting sample before arriving at any conclusion.
