Take this quick 10-point quiz to rate your boss.  For each item, indicate whether your answer is a 'yes' or a 'no.' At the end, total up the number of 'yes' responses to get your score.

RATE MY BOSS QUIZ

My Boss... 

...allows me to make decisions that directly impact the work I do.    YES     NO

...recognizes me for my job accomplishments.  YES    NO

...provides opportunities to learn and grow at work.    YES    NO

...is likeable.    YES    NO

...is honest and trustworthy.    YES    NO

...is fair.     YES    NO

...does not create unnecessary stress in my job.  YES    NO

...treats me respectfully.    YES    NO

...provides constructive feedback on the work that I do.  YES NO

...is helpful and supportive.    YES    NO

Score (each 'yes' equals one point):

8-10 You have a health-promoting boss. S/he is definitely a multi-vitamin.

6-7 Your boss has room for improvement. S/he is like a placebo; if you believe your boss is healthy for you, then he or she will be.

3-5 Your boss is like a bad cold or flu. You can function, albeit barely, but you will be miserable.

0-2 Your boss is the bubonic plague. S/he needs to be quarantined.

Research has long indicated that our relationships at work have a tremendous impact on our health and well-being. This is especially true of our relationship with our boss. For those of you who have a good relationship with a well-adjusted and mature supervisor, congratulations! You can count it as a blessing. He or she is a social multivitamin that will enable you to work better, handle stress more productively, and feel good about the work and job you do. On the other hand, for those of you who have a boss that makes your workday difficult, s/he is like a social virus that weakens your immune system, spreads anxiety and worry, inhibits productivity, creates stress, and generally makes your work life miserable.

For years I have been talking, consulting, and teaching about the role management plays in promoting both the health of the employee (in terms of absenteeism, illness, and health care costs) and the three 'P's' of health for a business (productivity, profit, and performance). When bosses act and treat their employees in a way that negatively impacts their health, it also hurts the health and ability of the corporate body to respond to ever-changing market demands. What employee will work the extra hour, display initiative, or find creative solutions to pressing problems when there's a millstone of oppression around his or her neck? Unfortunately, some managers believe that they must bully or control their employees in order to get them to do what they want. They use tactics and behaviors that literally create a toxic work environment, and (as many researchers have reported) eventually create a workforce that is dependent, infantile, and emotionally distraught. From a health perspective, this type of management style leads to both employee and organizational illness.

In contrast, a boss that treats employees with respect, fairness, and competence will create a positive work environment that is both health promoting to the employees, as well as to the organization itself. A manager who understands that the work context he or she creates is as important as the profit margin is one that acts like a vitamin to the workforce, and will reap the organizational health benefits. This means that they epitomize the positive attributes in the short quiz at the beginning of this blog.  

Throughout my adult life I have talked with many individuals about the work they do and the context in which they do it. And, I have learned that there are as many good bosses as bad out there. I myself have worked for some of the best individuals, as well as the worst. With those on the top of my list, we still keep in contact and continue to support each other through all areas of our lives. For those on the bottom of my list, I can only say 'good riddance.' They not only have hurt and destroyed many people's careers and work, they have also prevented a once healthy group of workers to benefit the organization they work for.  

Since work is so central to our lives and is the means by which we obtain financial as well as emotional security, good managers will appreciate the tremendous impact they have on the quality of life of their subordinates, and the role they play in creating a healthy work culture and environment. As General Douglas MacCarther well understood, when a boss is perceived as having the best interests of employees at heart, they will follow him or her anywhere. We are now just beginning to recognize that creating a successful and healthy business is based on the ability of managers to create healthy employees and support healthy work cultures. It is not just about a healthy bottom line, because a profit based on an unhealthy work culture will not be repeated for long. Eventually, the business will become sick, and will not be able to weather the diseases that come and go in the marketplace.  

Corporation comes from the Latin word 'corpus' or 'body.' Just like a human body, a corporation can suffer both illness and health. It acts like a biological entity that depends on the ability of each individual system to perform. Bosses that do their jobs properly will make sure that each unit (employee) within that system is performing well, is being appropriately nurtured and fed, and is free of disease or injury (whether physical, mental, or emotional). However, bosses that do not protect and promote the health of the corporate system they manage will not only impact the functioning of their own unit, but every unit they interact with. Many managers create neurological and musculoskeletal disorders within the corporate body. In some cases they can even be carcinogenic.

I would love to hear from you about your boss. How have they been a vitamin or a virus in your life? What kind of disease or healthy condition do they create? Without mentioning names, explain what you have experienced and how it has affected you and post it as a comment. There is a lot we can learn from our shared experiences, both good and bad.