We’ve all had to work for a bad boss at some point in our lives. These people can make your working day a living nightmare, and take all the joy out of your job. What can you do in this situation? One answer is to read these bad boss quotes for workplace motivation.
You spend a large amount of time in the workplace. The relationship you have with your boss is important, not only for the quality of your work, but the quality of your mindset.
A good boss has the ability to inspire, motivate, and encourage you. A bad boss has the ability to negatively impact all aspects of your job and wellbeing, including your mental health.
What should I do if I have a bad boss?
If you have a bad boss that is having a negative impact on your working life, how do you solve the problem?
One approach is to try speaking to your boss directly. You can prepare some points to discuss before you do. Try to keep as calm as possible, and raise your issues with any supporting evidence if you have it.
If this isn’t possible, hopefully you will have other people with management roles that can offer some support or assistance. Consider speaking to a member of the HR team who might be able to help you. Equally, reach out to your Union representatives if you have any.
This article has lots of helpful tips for dealing with a bad boss which could help inform your next steps.
For now, these bad boss quotes can help you realize that you’re not alone in what you’re facing. Some might make you laugh, and others might help you find a way to deal with what you’re going through. Make a note of your favorite ones for some workplace motivation!
Bad boss quotes
- “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton
- “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” – Robert Frost
- “The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful.” – Jon Taffer
- “The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about these circumstances.” – Andrew J. Bernstein
- “A leader is admired, a boss is feared.” – Vicente del Bosque
- “So, being a good man is not an exam or a qualification, it changes, and it incorporates being a good friend, a good father, a good employee, a good boss, a good neighbour and a good citizen.” – A. A. Gill
- “More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance being professional with being human. These are the bosses who celebrate an employee’s success, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge people, even when it hurts.” – Travis Bradberry
- “The biggest boss has the clearest desk.” – John Cho
- “A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.” – Charles Erwin Wilson
Quotes about the workplace
- “The culture of a workplace – an organization’s values, norms and practices – has a huge impact on our happiness and success.” – Adam Grant
- “Good manners are cost effective. They not only increase the quality of life in the workplace, they contribute to employee morale, embellish the company image, and play a major role in generating profit.” – Letitia Baldrige
- “A workplace that encourages self-awareness is an environment where the most productive, curious, and innovative people thrive.” – Neil Blumenthal
- “Don’t tell me how to do my job. I don’t come to your workplace and tell you how to sweep up.” – Billy Connolly
- “It’s a noisy environment we all live in, whether it’s traffic or the workplace, so it’s very difficult to think about your life in general. A lot of people are afraid to do that. They like to hide behind their work and not face up to a big problem in their life.” – Enya
- “It is important that you appreciate that the workplace must be a place of empowerment, but the empowerment must not only be connected to the job that you do.” – Anthony Carmona
- “In the workplace, we’re taught to worry about what happens if we don’t have full, complete knowledge of every detail. But if you create a culture and an environment that rewards people for taking risks, even if they don’t succeed, you can start changing behavior.” – Reshma Saujani
- “As consumers, we can pressure corporations both to monitor and improve workplace conditions overseas – when inspections reveal violations, these companies should address the gaps immediately.” – Alissa Quart
- “Leaders who understand the importance of the intangible elements contributing to workplace culture become sensitive to what makes their organization truly special. That is how they define core values and beliefs that are unique, simple, leader-led, repetitive, and embedded – transforming themselves from good to exceptional.” – Punit Renjen
- “All women should have the ability to get ahead with hard work, be treated fairly in the workplace, and live free from fear.” – Conner Eldridge
Funny boss quotes
- “A bad boss is like a disease of the soul.” — Chetan Bhagat
- “Having a bad boss isn’t your fault. Staying with one is.” — Nora Denzel
- “Sometimes you just have to put a lip gloss and pretend to be psyched.” — Mindy Kaling
- “When dealing with two-faced people, it is difficult to know which face is uglier, the real one or the manufactured one.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo
- “It’s a tough world out there. You’re going to prepare yourself for politics, bad bosses, hating employees – and usually when you’re the absolute best, you get hated on the most.” ― Kanye West
- “Do not think of knocking out another person’s brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.” — Horace Mann
- “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.” – W. H. Auden
- “I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.” – Warren Buffett
- “Society is like a stew. If you don’t stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.” – Edward Abbey
Quotes about leadership
- “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” – Alexander the Great
- “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” – Lao Tzu
- “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis
- “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” – Arnold H. Glasow
- “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” – Bill Bradley
- “The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.” – Ray Kroc
- “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” – Sam Walton
- “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller
Quotes about adversity
- “The journey is never ending. There’s always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.” – Antonio Brown
- “In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.” – Lee Iacocca
- “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward
- “Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.” – Lou Holtz
- “Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.” – Anais Nin
- “No difficulty can discourage, no obstacle dismay, no trouble dishearten the man who has acquired the art of being alive. Difficulties are but dares of fate, obstacles but hurdles to try his skill, troubles but bitter tonics to give him strength; and he rises higher and looms greater after each encounter with adversity.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- “There is in every true woman’s heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.” – Washington Irving
- “If you are lucky enough to never experience any sort of adversity, we won’t know how resilient you are. It’s only when you’re faced with obstacles, stress, and other environmental threats that resilience, or the lack of it, emerges: Do you succumb or do you surmount?” – Maria Konnikova
- “Someone said adversity builds character, but someone else said adversity reveals character. I’m pleasantly surprised with my resilience. I persevere, and not just blindly. I take the best, get rid of the rest, and move on, realizing that you can make a choice to take the good.” – Brooke Shields
- “Life’s about dealing with adversity and solving problems.” – Julian Edelman
More bad boss quotes
- “Employee loyalty begins with employer loyalty. Your employees should know that if they do the job they were hired to do with a reasonable amount of competence and efficiency, you will support them.” – Harvey Mackay
- “This is the only country in the world where today’s employee, is tomorrow’s employer.” – Marco Rubio
- “No man goes before his time – unless the boss leaves early.” – Groucho Marx
- “Nobody is my boss.” – Conor McGregor
- “Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.” – Doug Larson
- “If you’re unhappy with your circumstances, then change them. Don’t blame the government or your boss or the guy down the street who’s better looking than you (exceptions include Hugh Jackman and George Clooney). Just take some Pepto-Bismol and be a man (or woman, for all of you bullish feminists).” – Steven Crowder
- “Why do I want somebody to tell me what to do, tell me what I’m doing wrong? I want to be the boss.” – Bubba Watson
- “Seriously, how many places on this planet exist in which you get to say to your boss, ‘Sorry, but I’m leaving to climb a mountain, and I won’t have Wi-Fi or cell service for a week.’” – Brooke Baldwin
- “A lot of people in my generation don’t seem to get that you have to work your way up. I don’t care if filing invoices is beneath you. If you don’t do it, who do you think is going to? Your boss? Nope. That’s why she hired you.” – Sophia Amoruso
- “If employees need to stay late in order to curry favor with the boss, what motivation do they have to get work done during normal business hours? After all, they can put in the requisite ‘face time’ whether they are surfing the Internet or analyzing customer data.” – Robert Pozen
Bad boss quotes – final thoughts
Working for a bad boss is a tricky situation that no one would wish for. Job satisfaction is essential to overall health and happiness. It can be difficult if you find yourself working for someone who is causing you distress. Hopefully the above quotes have helped you think about the situation in a different way. Whether you decide to see the funny side of the situation or resolve the problem, know that you’re not alone.