I happen to have a truly wonderful boss, who’s been supportive in ways I can’t even catalogue here. Suffice it to say I’m lucky, and I know it. Thanks to her efforts, it even looks like I’ll be employed next year (though if Governor Kasich decides to drive his famous “bus” over the university, all bets are off).
But not all bosses are so exemplary, as my last post reminds us. That’s why a former professor of mine, Bob Sutton, created a diagnostic test to sort the gems from the jerks. Actually, he wrote a whole book about it, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t
His online test is the Asshole Rating Self-Exam (ARSE). It’s actually meant as a self-assessment, but you could take on behalf of a co-worker or boss – or ex.
I scored in the low range: “You don’t sound like a certified asshole, unless you are fooling yourself.” I’d like to think that’s right, but I’m guessing most people score themselves lower than other people would rate them. (Cue Zappa.)
Patron cat of Kittywampus (1985-2001)
Ahhh, too bad I can’t send that to the person who needs to see it… but I dare not. After all, they didn’t get to be an asshole for nothing.
Exactly! The truly epic assholes either don’t give a fig, or they are blind to their assholishness. It’s still satisfying to take the quiz for them and see just how high they score.
Ha, I used to want to put a sign up at my old work that said “No Assholes”. And, if someone started acting like an asshole, I would point and say “Didn’t you read the sign?”
You could just get a copy of Prof. Sutton’s book and leave it casually lying on your desk. The problem is, the folks who score sky-high on the ARSE will not take a subtle hint, or even a blatant one!