Ninos Youkhana

2 min

I’ve met many people during my life and employment years. Some of them were A$$.  It was easy to eliminate A$$ from my social circles, but working with one can be a real challenge, especially, if Mr. A is your manager or boss. I understand that feeling.

Not all corporate assholes are equal. The spectrum can vary from one with a Tasmanian devil energy going all directions to someone sending peeved emails like machine-gun fire, asking exigent questions before he gets an answer to the previous ones. Here is what I felt and went through when worked with Mr. A.

In certain moments, it felt just short of putting me in an early grave. Every time he walked into the office, his face indicated he had just made a devil’s pact.

Almost every time I talked to him; I felt his personality represented a mixture of bullying and barking orders. His dialogue was empty of “thank you”, “please”, “could you”. As for his barking orders, they came in form of “Do this…”, “bring that…”, “finish those…” And his maniacal attention to details was overwhelming in micromanaging.

In the corporate ladder race, his real forceful attitude was hidden from upper management. But every time he came to the office after meeting with his superiors, his true nature came alive. The people on the team had to put a show of surface geniality that barely hid the impatience in dealing with him.

Constant vigilance is the trademark for Mr. A. When he walked into the office or meetings, He gave the impression that his sole purpose in working inside a team or coming to the office was to monitor its members for any unintentional mistake to report or gossip about.

Mr. A was the type of guy that will share jokes, stories, funny mistakes about people, and contribute to them. Yet, he went documenting and complaining about those individuals whom he conversed with.

On a few occasions, I had to have lunch with him to discuss work. I heard him share personal stories. I felt some of them were fake and others were exaggerated. I wondered in my mind, did he think I am stupid to believe all this? He was insulting my intelligence. But I helped him believe his own lies.

Also there was a social tax I paid when associating with Mr. A. I felt my stock went down and a few people stopped associating with me.

Impulsiveness is part of my character. I can mange and control it; I did my best to avoid Mr. A during working hours all in hopes of escaping the agony of insincere chatter.

Mr. A was the type of person that made me fully appreciate that sometimes to not act is a man’s greatest triumph.

My story in dealing with Mr. A at work is paradoxically consoling. It helps me feel protected in comparison with future personalities – documenting every interaction with such people in a way to protect yourself. Maybe use an Excel file? 🙂

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