Fortune's Stanley Bing shares his take on the five types of crazy bosses, and some strategies for dealing with one, from "Crazy Bosses" (Harper Collins).
By Stanley Bing
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Kim Jong I'll: Working hard every day to blow up something and rename it after himself. One day he just might set the world on fire.
The disaster hunter
Symptoms
Default emotions: desire. Lust. The hunger.
Wants more. More money. More booze. More sex. More publicity. More power. More, more, more. Whatever he or she has accomplished so far feels like an appetizer for the meal to come.
Last-stage character disorder; individual no longer able to contain massive, bloated impulses within any meaningful framework; sense of being out of control, of heedlessly hurtling toward something inevitable; obvious to everybody but himself.
Exciting to be around; implements actions with minimal thought, lots of activity, late-night parties, shocking behavior sometimes bordering on the illicit or the illegal, eventually going over that border into no-man's-land where those who follow will be sucked under also.
Doesn't listen; will pursue inadvisable strategies, from bad acquisitions to outrageous sexual liaisons to inexplicable global conflicts, without heeding warnings from advisors.
Vicious when thwarted; access to great reservoirs of anger that dissipate when momentary needs are satisfied.
Not above working drunk, gambling like a moron, disappearing for a few days without leaving word.
Like all addicts, will lie and bend facts to fit whatever plan he or she has in mind.
Contagion factor: 12 - unless you're a moron, too.
Level of difficulty: 100. Just stand back and watch it all go down.
The central question of every hardworking person's career is how to work less hard while still being able to buy an expensive bottle of wine without trembling. The answer is simple: Retire while still working! (more)
