I picked this post as my “best of” because: 1. I didn’t have many to choose from as I’m a relatively new contributor here and 2. this is hands down the question people ask me more than anything (or a version of). It seems that having a crazy boss is like the common cold of the working world–we all get one eventually and they are really really annoying. Don’t forget to send your questions to askhorror@gmail.com. All questions are confidential. Enjoy! Dear Madame HR, I hate my boss. I’ve worked at this company for over a year, and I’ve tried everything to work with this person. He is crazy and incompetent, yet the CEO and CFO seem to love him. He has no clue how to do his job and half the time I have to explain his own job to him. What do I do? I’ve thought of leaving the company but the job market scares me. –Only Sane One Left Dear Sane One, Ah, the crazy boss, who hasn’t had one of those? I feel like I’ve had several. In fact, after reading your letter, I did a little tally of all the bosses I’ve had over the years and here’s how they broke out (this is just counting my post-college, what some may call “real” jobs): Crazy, but I kind of liked them- 2 Crazy, but I couldn’t stand them- 1 Crazy, like Pol Pot crazy and kind of mean- 1 Crazy, like Norma Desmond crazy and kind of fun- 1 Crazy, but they only talked to me like 3 times, so it didn’t really matter- 2 Crazy, but once I figured out how to work him, I learned A LOT from him- 1 Crazy, but in her defense, it wasn’t...

Dear Madame HorroR, Recently, my boss called me in to her office and gave me a counseling notice and said I had 10 days to improve my performance. Should I be worried? Am I going to get fired? — Called into the Principal’s office Dear Called, Yes… Probably… I don’t know. I’m doubtless not saying anything shocking when I relate that most people hate conflict, hate giving people bad news, hate confronting anything unpleasant in general. Just because the corporate gods have shined down upon your manager and christened her a “Manager” doesn’t automatically make her better at any of that. Or make her willing to deal with it either. That is what HR Departments are for, right? Here’s what I do know, your boss HATED having to give you that counseling notice. Now, I don’t know what it was for, but I’m guessing this is how the conversation between your boss and your HR department went: Your Boss: I want to let my employee, Called into the Principal’s Office go Your HR Dept: Have you discussed this performance issue with her? Your Boss: No, I just want you to let her go, she doesn’t listen to me and her work is sloppy Your HR Dept: Have you given her any feedback on her work, told her what your expectations are, how she can improve? Your Boss: No, just get rid of her Your HR Dept: (clicking keys in the background) I see that you gave her a 4.5 out of 5 on her last performance review Your Boss: I don’t care, I just want her gone, just deal with it Your HR Dept: Yes, but first we need to document something… At which point your HR Department gave your manager a nice long...