A manager who's a screamer

When faced with screaming criticism from a manager, employees still need to figure out if the criticisms themselves are valid.

I've managed employees who, whenever they received an assignment, asked the best-qualified employee they knew to do most of the work on their behalf so as to get it done "as efficiently as possible." Problem was, they provided no value of their own -- one reason I gave them the assignments was so they could learn how to be productive members of the team.

And so I had to instruct them to not ask for help.

I'm concerned that this might describe your behavior because of your statement that you said, in writing, that from here on in if you receive an assignment you don't know how to handle, you'll set it aside until you get more instruction.

If you were my employee and said this I'd be pretty direct about your responsibility as an employee, which is to dig in and figure it out ... especially if I'd already had to coach you about not just passing along everything to others to handle in addition to their existing workload.

You need to take a long, hard look at your own performance to see if you're a serious part of the problem.

Even if all of this is true, none of it justifies your boss flying off the handle or instructing you to keep it all secret. That's unprofessional and very poor leadership.

Whether you're a strong performer, average, or marginal you've described a bad place to work.

Which means you should:

• Make sure you're a highly desirable employee.
• Make sure you make an impression on everyone around you that's commensurate with your status as a highly desirable employee.
• Find a better place to work ... one that deserves an employee as desirable as you.

There are plenty of non-profits out there who need the help. Not all of them employ managers who scream like a fisherwoman when they become frustrated.

- Bob