A good friend of mine was talking about the challenges she was having with her boss. It got me thinking about the worst bosses I had worked for, and how to best describe them. Here is my list of the top 6 worst bosses, and what you can do.

“Take Over The World” Boss: This is the worst of all bosses to have to deal with. He or she is always plotting and scheming – who to fire, who to scape goat, etc. They are manipulative, inteligent, focused, and motivated. If you could take away the manipulation and throw in a dose of ethics, you’d have a great boss. Unfortunately, these types are short on moral character and long on “whats in it for me”. The best thing to do in this situation? Document everything – you work, what your asked to do, the outcomes, etc. Avoid the secret meetings. Stay honest in what you do.

“Everything needs to be done yesterday” Boss: Does this sound familiar – “We’ve got 100 action items, and they all really need to be done know. They are extremely important. All critical. Are you finished yet?” Normally, these types always have something new to add to your task list, and it is, you guessed it, “super critical.” Make sure whenever you are given task, that you ask them to prioritize this relative to the other task on the list. Force them to choose what is most important.

“My only volume is LOUD” Boss: This is the big bad wolf of bosses, huffing, puffing, and generally trying to bully everyone into action through yelling, screaming, or any other tactics possible. Most of the time these types are extremely insecure, and afraid at any moment things are not going to get done right. Best case here is to listen calmly no matter what – remember their shouting is not about your. Thank them for pointing out everything that needs to get done, and let them know the minute you are finished. As soon as they see you are spot on, the yelling will go down.

“Death dealer” Boss: This Boss knows one method: fear. Fear that you will lose your job, fear that if you don’t do it right you wont get a raise, fear that if you are not doing what he says you are doing it wrong. Best strategy? One of you has got to go! These types are notoriously difficult to deal with.

“One who talks but says nothing” Boss: You will now these types by their over reliance on $10 words and the use of A LOT of industry jargon. If, after talking with your boss, you are not sure what you heard or what to do but you did hear every buzz word from the last corporate meeting, then this is your boss! While harmless, you do have to be careful that you understand clearly your job duties. These types are quick to pass the blame and have mastered it as a skill. So know what you are supposed to do and get to it!

“4 hours is a full day” Boss: At first glance, these types seem great. Long lunches, lots of personal days, a relaxed attitude. But beware! The only way to pull this of is by passing your workload to the employees and not giving them credit for it. Biggest problem with these types is they lack respect among their peers, so if you ever need them to pull something off for you with upper management, you are screwed.

Got any you want to add? Just leave the description in the comments.