How To Be A Great Boss

1. Don't show your emotions, especially if you get angry or upset with your employees.  I had a boss who sent me an email asking, "Can you explain to me why you didn't do this?" after I neglected to change a status in our sales app for a customer.  Treating an employee with contempt does nothing for their morale, and will probably make them resent you.

2. Don't bad-mouth your employees, especially in writing.  I worked for two guys who acted like Beavis & Butthead: they fucked off and giggled like two little girls all day long, harassed and intimidated their employees, sent emails between themselves disparaging the employees and talking about all the drugs they'd been doing.

3. Don't make stupid bigoted comments about sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, weight, etc.  I've had a couple of bosses who asked me to "do a friend a favor" or what they should serve for breakfast at a morning meeting because "being a woman" I would know about what to serve for breakfast.

4. Don't let your insecurities (or other mental illnesses) get in your way.  A woman I used to work for always told everyone she had a degree in Communications (the degree people get when they can't hack an English Literature degree), but couldn't spell potato and did everything in her power to fire me after I teased her about it.  Guess what, Barbie doll: you look like a moron when you try to make yourself look smart by bringing up your degree but can't spell or use "big" words properly.

5.  For God's sakes, do not micromanage!  I used to work for a CIO who couldn't tie his shoes, much less manage anyone.  This imbecile claimed it only took "five clicks" to troubleshoot and fix PC problems, mainly because he wanted to outsource our PC techs to India.  If we experienced an outage or problem, he had to be right in the middle of everything, telling us what to do and how to do it.  Consequently, it always took twice as long to fix anything because he didn't know his ass from his elbow and his meddling only inhibited the actual problem solving.

The best bosses I've had simply get the hell out of the way, lead by example, and offer guidance when necessary.

Companies Are Screwing Job Applicants

I realize that this article comes from a humor website called Cracked, but the content is accurate and depressingly scary:  http://www.cracked.com/article_20322_6-ways-companies-are-secretly-screwing-job-applicants.html

I'd heard about these "blacklists" but hadn't seen a lot of coverage or information about them until I stumbled on this information.  Now think about this with a mature, clear, reasonable head.  Is it fun to sometimes get back at people you don't like?  Of course it is.  Is it fun when it happens to you?  No, it's not.  Is this something that we should really allow?  Oh, Hell no.  Just think of all the havoc you alone could wreak by putting names of people who've pissed you off onto a blacklist that may prevent them from ever getting hired again.  Now, think about how many people YOU have pissed off over the years.  How about coworkers, bosses, former friends, exes...Are you sure that guy you were tailgating doesn't have (or can't get) your name or information?  I used to work with a guy whose ex-wife (who worked for a mortgage company) ruined the credit of an enemy by reporting her to a credit agency for defaulting on a loan that she'd never had.  I've pissed people off, and I've been "wronged" by others.  That does not give me or anyone else the right to ruin their lives.

I understand that potential employers want to hire the right candidate; however, the availability of a "blacklist" opens up a Pandora's box for HR and hiring managers, and is too subjective and extremely dangerous.  Holding a grudge to the point of ruining a person's life says a lot more about a supposed "professional" than it does about a supposed "bad" employee.