Kelly Cutrone exposing fashion's ugly underside
Has your boss ever served a customer with a smile and turned right around a yelled at you for moving too slow? Or maybe you’ve been verbally abused or even fired for making a simple mistake. If so, you probably had what Aubrey Daniels calls a sociopathic boss.
Just today, I was talking with two colleagues about an incident where our boss told the co-worker, “If I had a choice, I would have never hired you.” And if that wasn’t enough, when he saw the tears running down her face he barked, “Why are you crying?!” My eyes would have gotten a little misty too if he yelled that to me.
Let’s face it – these type of comments cut like a knife when your head is on the chopping block. But we can’t seem to get enough of reality shows like ”Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kell on Earth” where crazy bosses yell obscenities and fire people left and right. Daniels gives good reasons in his article “Our Fascination with Sociopathic Bosses. “
Among the reasons, he mentions “vicarious empowerment”. Literally, an after-the-fact expression of your sentiments…”I wouldn’t let him to that to me” or “You know you shouldn’t take that abuse”. Most people would never confront a boss in person, but will resort to indirect means. In the age of reality TV, the easiest way is to turn on a show like “Ugly Betty” and root that someone lets Wilhemina Slater have it.
Aubrey Daniels makes a good case. Along with his three reasons for why America is fascinated with sociopathic bosses, he also explains the effect they have on long-term organizational success. And I can sum it up it two words. Not much. Read “Our Fascination with Sociopathic Bosses” for the entire article and find out why America is intrigued by crazy bosses.
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Kelly Cutrone picture appears courtesy of Washington Post.
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