Ten Simple Rules On Working For An Idiot...Rule # 1: Know One When You See One

Webster's online dictionary defines an idiot as follows: "(1) a person affected with extreme mental retardation; (2) a foolish or stupid person." The word itself is a derivative from the Latin word idiota meaning an ignorant person. While the first definition above is a fair description of the current crop of politicians in Washington, it is not my intent to insult or in any way offend people who are truly afflicted with a cognitive handicap.

These rules are really about how to deal with working for a foolish or stupid person - an idiota. Its important to understand that idiots don't have to be both foolish AND stupid. There are many really smart bosses that are just plain foolish... and there are many really stupid bosses that are just plain lucky, or well connected, or kept in place to make someone else look good by comparison.

I have worked for a few idiots myself and have witnessed scores of idiots in management positions - some of them very senior positions. Early in my career I was an international treasury analyst for a Fortune 150 consumer products company. During one memorable presentation to the vice-chairman and treasurer, this guy took his copy of the information I was presenting, wadded it up and literally threw it across the table at me accompanied with a few choice adjectives on the quality of my work. Two days later I took the exact same materials, changed the date, and re-presented it to the same guy and he loved it... He was not stupid, just foolish enough to waste his subordinates' time and company resources to satisfy his sense of self-importance.

I once witnessed a very senior financial executive go on stage in front of over 300 other executives at an off-site management conference and sing Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" on a dare. It was bad... really bad. Both foolish and stupid. As we have all learned from American Idol, people who can't sing well, shouldn't sing in public. Reputation and credibility are accumulated over time and always remain tenuous. Not only did she tarnish her own reputation, at some level the people who worked for her were guilty by association...

At one point in my career I worked for a manager who literally knew almost nothing about the area he was responsible for. He once sent me an e-mail from his blackberry during a meeting with his boss and in that e-mail he asked me what he should "think" about the issue being discussed in that meeting... This was a guy prone to presenting his subordinates' work as his own, and repeating what another person just said and acting as if it was his own thought. He achieved his position by being well connected but was totally dependent on others for his performance - not a good long term strategy...

If you find yourself working for an idiot its really important to recognize it early. The behavioral traits of your average idiot often present themselves as an inflated sense of self-importance, lack of basic skills/knowledge necessary to perform their job, extremely weak social skills or behavioral governors, and/or a general misunderstanding of what motivates people. The good news is that you can often turn this to your advantage by establishing yourself as the talent behind the idiotic manager. Most senior leaders aren't idiots. They usually recognize the idiots within their ranks, weed them out, and promote the true talent. If they don't - leave quickly...