ARTelevision

That's my opinion.

Very often, they are also abusing other citizens, co-workers, their wives, children, dog.

You don't have to take it.
................................

New Zealand Herald

Work stress can be a killer if your boss is nasty enough

26.06.2003


Your boss really can drive you to an early grave, says a British medical study.

It has found that bad bosses not only make their staff grumpy, but can also increase their risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Scientists recruited 28 female nursing assistants in British hospitals and checked their blood pressure every 30 minutes during their working day to see how it changed when their supervisor was around.

Thirteen of the group had two supervisors - one good boss, one bad boss - who alternated throughout the week.

Fifteen others formed a comparison group: they either had just one supervisor or had two, both of whom were liked or disliked.

Those coping with Ms Nice and Ms Nasty showed an astonishing difference in blood pressure.

Their maximum blood pressure registered a difference of 15mm Hg (blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury, or mm Hg) and their minimum showed a 7mm Hg difference, when suffering under a boss who raised hackles.

But when they worked under someone considered fair, everyone relaxed and their blood pressure dropped.

At the same time, the comparison group registered only tiny or no difference in their blood pressures.

Previous research has shown that higher blood pressure is directly linked to coronary heart disease and stroke.

The study, conducted by doctors at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College in southern England, is reported in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, published by the British Medical Association.

Nursing assistants carry out many of the menial hospital jobs, such as changing sheets and cleaning bedpans, under the supervision of nurses.

They are poorly paid, have low social status, "high levels of reported work stress and poor health", the authors say.

A Finnish study published last October found that people who suffer from stressful demands at work, poor rewards and scant career opportunities are twice as likely to die from heart disease than colleagues who were treated reasonably and given regular rewards.
..............

As the evidence piles up, these people will not be able to continue their abusive ways.

__________________
create evolution

rogue49

Boy, don't I know about that one.
Thank god, that's changed for me.
I'm slowly building myself back up again.

You never thought an asshole could affect you heart, did you?

mtsgsd

I pretty familiar with the effects myself. I worked at a place that had so much stress that, looking back now seems unbelievable. It's amazing how one asshole can make so many people so miserable.

OzOz

Wish it were so. Fortunately I've now got a good boss, unlike many (but fortunately not all) in the past who have been idiots and jerks.

__________________
Maybe you should put some shorts on or something, if you wanna keep fighting evil today.

rockzilla

I've got two bosses, a Chef who makes the kitchen I work in run, orders food, does schedules, budgets, and all the other work. He's the most understanding, laid back, and skilled person I've ever worked for. Then there's the Executive Director. No one's really sure what his job is, other than to stand over my shoulder and quiz me on classical cooking methods and waste my time making stocks and sauces from scratch when I have 300 homeless people to serve dinner to in half an hour. I've heard stories of how he'd take cooks out to a public coffee shop to loudly chastize their work, thrown pots and pans around and has been sent to anger management classes. With me being the 7th cook they've had to hire in 6 months, the rest of the staff has made upper management know that they will all walk out the next time he has a 'rage attack', the Chef included. So I'm lucky management knows who the real problem is.
But I'll agree with the article 100%, I can feel my blood boil every time the director has thrown 8 turkeys in front of me and said 'make stock' and then watch as I try to do that along with all my other duties.

Cynthetiq

I try to be a good boss to those that I have managed. I try to stimulate creativity, team work, discussion, and individuality.

It's important to keep everyone working at their own levels and to tailor one's managerial style to get the best effect from the individual.

Having managed 15 people, it's hard to be a manager, supervisor, and friend. I was brought up from the ranks so there were some people's friendships which were casualties of my promotion. But I do think that I did everyone the best that I could.

Primus inter pares... first among equals. That's my management style. I never felt like it was below me to roll up my sleeves and work shoulder to shoulder with my team. Also, during interviews, I made sure that a couple of them interviewed people because I didn't have to work with the new hire day to day, they did.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Kaos

I manage groups of volunteers where I work, and every time I meet a new volunteer and they start working, the first thing I tell them, is that I only have one rule: I will never ask someone to do a job that I wouldn't do myself.

ARTelevision

mtsgsd,
Your comment is so tragically true:

"It's amazing how one asshole can make so many people so miserable."

We need to focus on making workplaces where this can not and does not happen.

As always, I think the first step is to discuss the issue and the second step is for each individual to decide to do something about making it better.

__________________
create evolution