The Toxic Boss

Tag: leadership

  • “We Trust You to Manage Your Own Time” Means You’re Always On

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    Anon
    in

    “We trust you to manage your own time.” It sounds empowering.Modern.Adult. But in a lot of workplaces, it’s not trust. It’s removal of boundaries. Freedom Without Protection This phrase usually arrives alongside flexibility. Work from anywhere.Set your own hours.Take ownership. But what quietly disappears is the end of the workday. No clear start.No clear finish.Just…

  • “We’re Doing More With Less” Is Not a Strategy

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    Anon
    in

    “We’re doing more with less.” It’s said like a badge of honour.As if endurance is innovation. But most of the time, it’s not strategy. It’s surrender. The Phrase That Normalises Burnout This line shows up after cuts. Headcount freezes.Budget reductions.Restructures that quietly remove support roles. And instead of rethinking scope, leadership reframes the loss as…

  • “We’re All Feeling the Pressure” Is Not Leadership

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    Anon
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    “We’re all feeling the pressure.” It’s usually said calmly.Almost sympathetically. And it’s meant to make the conversation stop. Shared Stress as a Shield The phrase appears when someone raises a concern. Too much work.Unclear priorities.Deadlines that keep tightening. Instead of addressing the issue, leadership widens it. If everyone is struggling, then no one is responsible.…

  • “It’s Not a Priority Right Now” Means It Never Will Be

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    Anon
    in

    “It’s not a priority right now.” It sounds temporary.Reasonable.Almost considerate. But in most workplaces, it’s a soft way of saying: this is not going to happen. The Ranking Game Everything is a priority — until it isn’t. Your workload grows.Expectations rise.Deadlines stay tight. But when you raise something that affects you — pay, progression, sustainability…

  • “We’ll Review It Next Quarter” Is a Decision to Do Nothing

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    Anon
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    “We’ll review it next quarter.” It sounds responsible.Measured.Strategic. But most of the time, it’s not a plan. It’s a postponement dressed up as prudence. The Illusion of Process This phrase usually appears when a decision feels inconvenient. A raise request.A role clarification.A structural problem that keeps slowing things down. Rather than saying no, leadership pushes…

  • “This Is Just How It Is Here” Is Not an Explanation

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    Anon
    in

    “This is just how it is here.” It’s usually said casually.Almost apologetically. And it’s meant to end the conversation. The Normalisation of Dysfunction You hear it when you question something that doesn’t make sense. Why deadlines are always impossible.Why decisions change without warning.Why the same problems keep resurfacing. “This is just how it is here.”…

  • “We Need You to Be More Flexible” Means You’re Carrying the Failure

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    Anon
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    “We need you to be more flexible.” It sounds reasonable.Team-oriented.Mature. But in most workplaces, it’s said when something has already gone wrong — and someone else doesn’t want to own it. Flexibility Only Flows One Way Notice when this phrase appears. A deadline was unrealistic.A scope wasn’t defined.A decision was rushed. And instead of fixing…

  • “Let’s Circle Back” Is How Problems Go to Die

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    Anon
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    “Let’s circle back.” It sounds collaborative.Non-confrontational.Reasonable. But in most workplaces, it means one thing: This is not getting fixed. The Soft Dismissal “Let’s circle back” usually appears when something uncomfortable is raised. A broken process.An unrealistic deadline.A decision that doesn’t make sense. No one argues with you.No one disagrees. They just delay. And delay is…

  • “You’re Doing Great” Is Not Feedback

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    Anon
    in

    “You’re doing great.” It sounds supportive.Encouraging, even. But in a lot of workplaces, it’s the most useless sentence you can hear. Because it usually appears when nothing is going to change. Praise Without Progress You hear it in one-to-ones.You hear it in performance reviews.You hear it right before a conversation ends. “You’re doing great. Keep…

  • The Day You Realise They Never Intended to Keep You

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    Anon
    in

    There’s a moment in some jobs where the illusion quietly collapses. Nothing dramatic happens.No argument.No HR meeting. Just a small, almost forgettable interaction that makes everything click. And once it does, you realise something uncomfortable: They never planned for you to stay. The Long-Term Talk That Never Happens Think back. How many times have you…