My boss called me today and was ranting about how my colleagues are not helpful, how he is a “good person that doesn’t owe a salary even though people are not working”, and how he feels my colleagues act as if they are doing him a favour. He mentioned how one of his girlfriends, who was with him yesterday, being Saturday, got a call to go to the office and she did. I didn’t say anything because I was really angry at what he was vomiting. We are organizing a program, and I know that “those colleagues” are really trying their best. For instance, official closing time is 5:30 pm, but he gets angry whenever we close by the official closing time, and he doesn’t pay for overtime because he feels “we ought to overwork”.
My colleagues stay and work till 10 pm, 7 pm, 8 pm, some even stay over to work, yet, no overtime and no “thank you”. His anger now is that my colleagues did not stay over (sleep in the office to work), yet those colleagues left by 8 pm, and no overtime was paid to them. Yet, he had the guts to say that those same colleagues want his program to fail, and he had the guts to say that those colleagues are acting as if they are doing him a favor. I was so pissed. My boss will call at an ungodly hour of 11 pm, 1 am, and get angry with you for not picking up his calls by that time, saying annoying things to you, including how you want him to fail. Yet, he will call himself a good person, which he is not. I always tell him that being good goes beyond giving someone money, and he shouldn’t be entitled to someone’s time outside the official work hours. Each time I tell him this, he gets angry with me. One time, he was complaining that my colleague left with the office car without his consent. My colleague closed by 1 am because of him, and he knows the security situation of the country.
Finally, he is still mad that the office officially resumed work around 14th/15th January, which he authorized. He authorized it because we closed late for Christmas, yet he is the angry one, saying that we don’t want his office to progress. Bosses like him are the reason people don’t put their best in the office. He will tell you to do something, you will take your time to do it, once you are done and present it to him, he will deny ever telling you to do that because he doesn’t like the outcome of his instruction. He will lie that he never gave you that instruction. He lies too much, but the only thing he has is financial integrity; aside from that, he doesn’t know what truth means.
One time, during a public holiday, he told one of my colleagues to come to work; he assured him that he would give him the next day off. Trusting the words of my boss, he came to work that day and closed late. The next day, he thought he had a day off as my boss promised, but, guess what? My boss called him and denied ever promising him anything. He shouted at the boy and told him that if he didn’t want to have a problem with him, he should come to work. The guy came but promised never to repeat that mistake again(the mistake of listening to and believing my boss’s words). Only a fool believes whatever comes out of my boss’s mouth. He later told him to close by 5 pm when closing time is 5:30 pm, and he said: “You know I am a good man, don’t take my leniency for granted”. I was so pissed, I am happy the boy learnt his lesson. Sometimes I wonder if he really wants our progress because he got a very cool opportunity outside Nigeria for a managerial position, all expenses paid. He never considered the manager that have been working with him for close to 15years. He recommended his brother inlaw that just joined his family last year. When I told him to put the manager there, he said: “No, that he wants the manager to continue working with him”. 15years, the manager doesn’t have a car, no house of his own, still struggling to pay rent. Yet, he refused to recommend the manager. I am really angry. I used to put my best in the office, but now, I am all me.
