9. No Backup

A boss can also get bad marks from an employee for not providing backup against the mistaken comments or complaints of others. These others may not even be customers, but rather people who just observe the employee in action. Without such backup, the employee can feel discredited or disrespected when the boss doesn’t provide the support the employee feels is deserved. The result can be lowered morale, as well as the employee not taking into consideration the input of outsiders, even when it would be more effective to do so, because he or she doesn’t want to have to make the case for improvements to the boss. The employee goes along to get along and keep the job, although he doesn’t do it as well and feels a lingering resentment because of the lack of support from the boss.

That’s what happened to Sidney, a man in his twenties who worked as a shuttle van driver during the time between his discharge from the Army and heading off to college. His job on the morning shift was to pick up customers at an auto body and repair shop and drop them at home or another destination within a three-mile radius while they were getting their cars fixed for the day. The company’s other driver picked up people from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., usually to take them back to the shop. Sidney was a very friendly, helpful, affable guy who planned his route in such a way so that he could drop off his customers at their destinations and return for the next pickup as quickly and efficiently as possible. His boss, Tony, was in charge of getting the orders from customers over the phone and coordinating what the drivers did via the van radio.