I recently left a high stress, strict deadline job in television production. Although I loved the job and my coworkers, I could no longer work with the growing incompetence that existed at the upper management levels.

When the highly effective, much beloved boss decided it was time to move on, the general manager decided that the best move would be to replace him with the cheapest, least competent person he could find because he could pay them less and save the company money.

In the span of 6 months, the useless new boss managed to take over 5 weeks of vacation. Her inability to make a decision or give leadership or direction caused us to lose valuable ratings and we slipped from first to last place. She often felt threatened by her assistant, so she openly undermined him and his work while managing to blame him for the fallout of her poor leadership.

It quickly became apparent that this new boss was in way over her head. Her incompetence turned to vindictiveness as she began to hear rumblings that employees were questioning her ability to do the job. She punished loyal employees, which drove them out (or she outright fired them) and she replaced them with friends she owed favors to.

At this point, she’s still with the company……barely. The GM seems to be slowly figuring out what’s going on. Too late for me, but maybe in time to save some of the talent that’s left at that shop.

What do you think? Is this boss crazy?