I always looked forward to the day I will climb to the top of the legendary corporate ladder and enjoy a bird’s eye view and quit the worm look. Little did I know of the challenges of dealing with lower rankings who slowly but surely gnaw away the ladder trying to topple me and have a feast of my guts.

Being just a few planks away to the top, I decided to re-look at the experiences with my previous bosses. I may learn a few lessons from my former managers. I must admit it is hard rising in the rat race and the entrepreneur way of self employment seems faster. I have analyzed them under the following categories that affected my work life:

• Interview – How the boss handled me during the interview
• Learning curve – How I was managed during my first months at work
• Terms – Influence the boss had on salary and perks
• Social – How the boss interacted with us on non-work and social issues
• Discipline – How the boss handled my erred ways
• Motivation – was the boss inspiring, motivational, rewarding, supported creativity
• More: other titbits that affected my working experience
• Senior relations – my perceived relations of the boss and his/her seniors
  

Boss one:

1. Interview: informal, I was unskilled but he trusted my quick-to-learn interview antics
2. Learning Curve: very patient, taught me every bit of the process
3. Terms: He had control of what his team earned and gave me more than I expected
4. Social: joined staff for lunch and invited us to his home. Involved us with non-company projects where we made extra cash.
5. Discipline: was firm and civil
6. Motivation: quite encouraging and supportive but used my project to get an international job
7. More: very social but made rude jokes on his juniors.
8. Senior: he made crude jokes about them in our presence but made them know what a great team he had

Boss two:

1. Interview: informal, was after my skills and so sign-up was speedy
2. Learning curve: relatively impatient but provided more than enough resources
3. Terms: sympathized but corporate job grade policy could not allow more
4. Non-work Interaction: friendly, involved me in his wedding
5. Discipline: intense pressure to deliver
6. Motivation: promised and delivered more paying opportunities when I met targets
7. More: Helped me get a better job when I outgrew my role and could not rise within.
8. Senior: He was respectful. The seniors would usually complement us, so we knew he attributed his success to us.

Boss three:

1. Interview: formal, felt I was over-qualified but still hired me
2. Learning curve: no issues since I was experienced in the tasks
3. Terms: pushed me to settle for less since I appeared desperate
4. Non-work Interaction: None at all except for the pestering on whether I am opus dei
5. Discipline: I had been warned of the ruthlessness so managed to have a clean boy profile
6. Motivation: We both knew it won’t last, so she was busy looking for a replacement as I hustled for a less-brown pasture. Job insecurity made me unproductive.
7. More: She cared I get a job befitting my skills despite the fact that I loved the job. She made me insecure all through.
8. Seniors: She worshipped them