Bad Boss Story: Spy & Scream

Source: Submitted by Justin

"Our CEO, known for his “my way or the highway” style, came to Australia and told us to make 40 sales calls in 2 hours while he went to a “meeting.”

Turns out, he’d actually slipped into a room outside the office to secretly listen in. Twenty minutes later, he stormed in, yelled “You three, come with me now!” and dragged us into a small room.

After asking how the calls were going, he revealed he’d been listening the whole time and tore into us – “I’m disgusted. None of you know how to make a call.”

He used fear tactics, threatened our jobs, and left the team shaken. Within a week, two people quit, citing workplace bullying.'

👀 Our Take:

This isn’t leadership — it’s theatre. A boss who spies and humiliates isn’t improving performance, they’re burning trust and talent.

🧠 Could this have been avoided?

Probably. A leader with coaching skills could have turned this into a development moment.

That’s why we built the Work Personality snapshot — a 60-second quiz to help leaders understand how their style impacts others.

→ Find out what kind of boss you’d be