Edmunds: Use bad boss examples as motivation

Hi Gladys: I plan to open my own business in a few years. But first I want to go to graduate school. I got a job in a company that will assist me in paying for my education. My job is in the customer call center of the company. And I'm grateful because I need financial help to get through school. The problem is that the work environment is terrible. All day long I am taking calls from upset customers because the company didn't deliver what was promised. And, my boss listens in on the calls and throws temper tantrums and screams at us when we don't succeed in pacifying the customer; my first week of work I had an anxiety attack and had to be taken to the hospital emergency room. I look forward to Fridays and start my Monday mornings feeling nervous. I live on Pepto-Bismol. Maybe you can write something that I can put on my boss's desk about treating customers and employees with respect. Any help would be appreciated.

Perhaps if we can look at your situation from another perspective it might help you to get off the antacids.

If you are planning to start your own business in a few years, look at this experience as a stepping-stone to the life that you are planning. There are a number of things to learn from this experience. But for the sake of space I will address the top consideration.

Use this experience to learn how to be both a leader and a manager for your own company when you get started.

I realize that it is difficult to have a completely stress-free environment but when you enter your own company, practice the ancient physicians' pledge, primum non-nocere, or "First do no harm."

This will come easier if your employees are well trained, you get out of their way and allow them to do their work and develop an employee handbook that covers both operating procedures and employee regulations. And hold regularly meetings so that you stay in touch with what's going on in your business. And then you won't have to eavesdrop or go into a rage when things aren't working.

Create an environment that supports and enhances a person's talents and if you can't do that then make certain that you don't create an environment that inhibits employee growth and potential.

There are all kinds of bosses in the world from the tyrant boss to the protective parent boss.

I am reminded of a friend. Several years ago she had picked me up to go to lunch and then back to her office. As she approached the intersection the traffic light turned from green to yellow. The driver in front of her stopped for the yellow light, making her stop just slightly more quickly than usual. She automatically raised her hand in front of my chest to protect me from going forward. She chuckled and said that she had made that hand movement for so many years with her children that it had become automatic.

I was not the least bit surprised that during my visit to her business her office I noticed that she treated her employees in that same motherly protective manner. She gave an employee a task to complete and explained in detail exactly how it was to be done. When the employee began suggesting an easier way to perform the assignment, my friend cut the employee off and said, "No you do it my way and everything will be fine." The dispirited employee took the paper of instructions and walked away with his head lowered.

To this day my friend cannot understand why her employees don't stay with her company longer than 12 – 18 months.

Employees need leaders and managers not tyrants or parents.

Try to look at your current employment as an extension of your education, and perhaps viewing each day as a learning experience will help you to take fewer antacids.

Gladys Edmunds, founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh, is an author and coach/consultant in business development. Her column appears Wednesdays. E-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com. An archive of her columns is here. Her website is gladysedmunds.com.