Toxic Workplaces Archives

Is My Boss Manipulating Me? 12 Signs To Look For

Workplace Experiences

Is My Boss Manipulating Me? Here Are 12 Signs Of A Manipulative Boss

Working in a toxic environment is what I consider a ‘silent killer’. Maybe you can relate to this. The effect settles in over time, not all at once. You start feeling less enthusiasm for your work. You start questioning you own abilities and skill. You take home a little more baggage with you each day. You’re working more to ‘keep up’. You feel worn out, tired, and Monday mornings are your worst enemy. You feel like you’re being drained of your life force one day at a time. Let’s get into the ways bosses manipulate employees, and what to do about them!

Pat Finnegan April 3, 2022

Workplace Experiences

My Boss Doesn’t Have My Back: What Should I Do? My 5 Personal Tips

Do you ever feel betrayed by your boss? Does it seem like the two of you are always at odds, or that you simply can’t trust them? Unfortunately, this is something many of us can relate to. While we hope to have positive, productive relationships with our bosses, it’s certainly not a guarantee. Many of us feel like our bosses are only out for themselves – or even worse, working against us. In the land of the modern workplace and corporate culture, it can feel like work is just as much about office politics, individual advancement and covering our butts as it is about actually doing our jobs, and our bosses are no more exempt from this than we are. While our relationships with our bosses may feel worse in our minds than they really are, we may also notice certain patterns of behavior in them over time. Whether it be that our boss rarely offers us support, disagrees with us in front of others, throws us ‘under the bus’ or just plain doesn’t like us, we eventually reach the point where we think “My boss doesn’t have my back! What should I do?”. As someone who’s definitely been there, I’m happy to share with you the techniques I’ve used to mitigate this situation with success. Let’s get into them.

Pat Finnegan May 27, 2021

Career Planning

6 Project Management Lessons From Enron & Their Historic Collapse

I just finished watching “The Smartest Guys In The Room”. It’s a documentary about Enron, the once-revolutionary Texas energy trading company that famously collapsed in 2001. From the early 90’s right up to their downfall, Enron was a darling of Wall Street, ranking #7 on the Fortune 500 in the same year that news of its’ massive accounting fraud and unethical business practices swept the world. In the summer of 2000, Enron’s stock hit an all-time high of over $90 per share. In late 2001, Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is still known as one of the largest corporate scandals in American history. Not only was Enron a business titan on Wall Street, but they were also well-known on ‘Main Street’ too. Enron’s collapse led to nearly 30,000 lost jobs, thousands of evaporated retirement accounts and countless investors left with worthless stock. Enron was once a (mostly) legitimate energy company before it essentially became an energy stock market in the 90s. What the heck happened? The Enron story is complex yet simple at the same time, unpinned by human ego, greed, deceit and pride. As for the specifics of what happened, we’ll get into those too. Let’s discuss six project management lessons from Enron and their demise that came to me after watching the film.

Pat Finnegan April 22, 2021

Workplace Experiences

6 Things I Learned While Working For A Failing Company

Not all companies are meant to last unfortunately. Whether it be due to poor management, changing times, a rise in competition or even economic recession, many businesses end up closing their doors as the years go on. While some of these closures are sudden, other companies take several years before they’re completely shut down. As you probably know already, the daily experience employees have at a failing company is not always great – the atmosphere can range from unmotivated to extremely stressful and everything in between. This experience can also apply to your department or specific branch closing too, even if the company as a whole is not going out of business. If this is your experience, I can relate. The last two years at my previous company were spent seeing the ‘tidal wave’ coming in slow motion; most of us knew our division – once one of the largest in the company – would be shut down eventually given our overall performance, but no one knew exactly when. Here are six things I learned while working for a failing company that’ll hopefully be helpful!

Pat Finnegan April 16, 2021

Workplace Experiences

Surviving A Two-Faced Boss: A Few Tips From Experience

Most of us have worked for a bad boss at some point. Whether they’re mean, incompetent, selfish or manipulative, bad bosses all have one thing in common – the ability to drive their subordinates nuts. The vast majority of people just want to come to work, have a decent day and head home when it’s over. Unfortunately, the ‘vast majority’ still doesn’t mean everyone. Some people can’t help but to get involved in drama or negativity at work – even if they must start it themselves. Other people don’t crave drama per se, but their personality and mindset effects others anyways. That brings us to our main topic: dealing with a two-faced boss. Let’s talk about how they act and how to ‘survive’ working for one.

Pat Finnegan March 19, 2021

Project Manager Soft Skills

When Your Boss Criticizes You in Front of Others, Do These 5 Things

Bad bosses are the bane of many employee’s existences. No matter what industry you work in, how old you are or even what your position is, the vast majority of us have dealt with a bad boss at some point in our careers. There’s plenty of ways a boss can be “bad”: poor understanding of the company’s needs, terrible at planning ahead, being clueless on what’s happening day-to-day, and so on. Situations like those are surely annoying to deal with, but few boss behaviors are more insidious than bullying. One common way bosses bully employees is through humiliating them in front of others. These reasons bosses behave this way are varied and complex, but one thing is for sure – we all want to put an end to it. If you’re wondering what you should do when your boss criticizes you in front of others, don’t miss the five tactics we discuss below.

Pat Finnegan July 14, 2020

Workplace Experiences

Why Do Idiots Get Promoted? 7 Reasons To Consider

We all know at least one person at work who’s…….not great. They make mistake after mistake, act like jerks, gossip, bring negative energy and seem totally incapable of doing any job well, let alone a job in upper management. “They’re so stupid, a trained monkey could do a better job!”. Dumb managers and coworkers are so common that it’s a storyline repeated all over TV and movies. We can all relate to this regardless of industry and geographic location and in that, we at least have each other. But it does beg the question – how does this keep happening? Why do idiots get promoted? In this article, we’re talking about 7 common reasons why this is the case.

Pat Finnegan May 27, 2020

Project Manager Soft Skills

How To Deal With A Coworker You Don’t Trust: The Do’s & Don’ts

Trust is a vital aspect of any relationship. This applies to our family, friends, romantic partners and coworkers alike. Just like our family and romantic partners, we must see our coworkers for an extended amount of time every day. In most instances, we spend more waking hours with our coworkers while working full-time than we spend with our families – that’s a lot of time at work! When we have great coworkers who we can trust, this doesn’t feel nearly as harsh as it sounds. What happens when we just can’t trust coworkers? It could be something they’ve done, rumors we hear or just our gut feeling – regardless, a situation like this puts a tremendous strain on our work life. In this article, we’re talking about how to deal with a coworker you don’t trust!

Pat Finnegan December 19, 2019

Workplace Experiences

Are You Experiencing Anxiety About Going To Work Everyday? Read This!

If you wake up with a pit in your stomach every workday, you aren’t alone. According to ADAA, nearly one in five adults suffer from anxiety. That’s 20% of the adult population in America! With so many people experiencing anxiety every day, it’s no wonder it manifests itself in our work lives. How could it not? While anxiety as a whole must be treated and tended to, there are a few things you should keep in mind when it comes to workplace stress. If you’re experiencing anxiety about going to work everyday, check out our list of thoughts to consider – you may find that your anxiety at work deflates easier than you thought! Let’s dive in.

Pat Finnegan December 10, 2019

Career Planning

Signs Of A Positive Work Environment: Our Top 10 Indicators To Look For

Nobody like to work in a negative, crappy environment. Not only is it not enjoyable in the slightest, but it’s difficult to excel, stay motivated and envision a future there. According to statistics, only 12% of workers leave their jobs for more money (via Forbes) – the majority leave due to some level of unhappiness in their present jobs. You may recall an article we wrote in the past titled “What Are The Signs Of A Toxic Work Environment?”. Today we’re talking about the antithesis of this – in this article, we’re exploring our top 10 signs of a positive work environment and what to look out for.

Pat Finnegan December 3, 2019

CATEGORY | Toxic Workplaces

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Is My Boss Manipulating Me? Here Are 12 Signs Of A Manipulative Boss

My Boss Doesn’t Have My Back: What Should I Do? My 5 Personal Tips

6 Project Management Lessons From Enron & Their Historic Collapse

6 Things I Learned While Working For A Failing Company

Surviving A Two-Faced Boss: A Few Tips From Experience

When Your Boss Criticizes You in Front of Others, Do These 5 Things

Why Do Idiots Get Promoted? 7 Reasons To Consider

How To Deal With A Coworker You Don’t Trust: The Do’s & Don’ts

Are You Experiencing Anxiety About Going To Work Everyday? Read This!

Signs Of A Positive Work Environment: Our Top 10 Indicators To Look For

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CATEGORY | Toxic Workplaces

About This Topic

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

WORK LIFE

PAGES

STAY IN TOUCH!