From 1995 – 1997 I worked with a horrible boss. If you’ve ever attended any of my training sessions or conference talks, you know I often start with the story of Captain Davies. Of all the bosses I had in my Navy career, he was at the top of the list of the bad ones. I had enough material from his performance to fill a 20-page term paper in my graduate program that I was enrolled in while working for him (Jonathan Davies, Portrait of a Manager). What made him a bad boss? Well he wasn’t a screamer like some of the people I worked for. His biggest offense was laying out a trap for me and then, in his unique way, proclaiming “Gotcha!”
Our mission at the Naval Submarine Base in Silverdale, WA was to ensure sailors deploying on the submarines had no dental problems that would surface (bad pun) during a patrol. The Command purchased a 36-foot RV that was outfitted as a mobile dental unit. Because of the expense, Captain Davies was under pressure to make sure it was taken care of and so he would make an inspection of it on a random basis. If there were any issues, he would go through the following routine:
“Petty Officer Munro, what happened to the dental van today?”
“I don’t know sir. I haven’t been out there since it returned.”
“Ohhhh…you better take a look!” (in his best tattletale tone)
Then I would go out there and he would point out some minor scratch or something.
“How did this happen? This is your fault. Who is responsible? What have you done to counsel them?
And the questions would go on an on. An interrogation right there in the parking lot in front of people. It wasn’t just the dental van. It was any little minor infraction. He would go around the clinic, find something minor, then run over to me and ask me all the details.
“Gotcha!”
Now lest you think I was sitting around all day long staring out the window, let me be clear. I had a non-stop line of people outside my office bringing me a host of problems not to mention a mountain of paperwork. I had 22 direct report to take care off. It was a bad time in my life. And trust me, there is nothing worse than someone looking around for problems to blame me for.
Gabby Gotcha exists in most organizations. You’ve probably met her. She (or he) sets traps and then when you step in them, you get your ass chewed.
Surviving Gabby Gotcha is up to you. I had to endure it and maybe it builds character. BUT, if you want to avoid becoming her, then ask yourself the following questions:
- What are you afraid of? Why are you running around looking to set traps for something that YOU could actually fix?
- Why don’t you trust your people to get things done? If they don’t know how, have you trained them?
- What possible joy can you get from watching someone else slip on the proverbial banana peel?
Bad bosses always leave an indelible memory. I hope you’re not memorable for stuff like this.