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You have landed that plum job made in heaven. The last thing you think about is the day when you are shown the door. We rarely think about a bad ending because naturally, all that begins well should end well.

Not when you have the boss from hell. Just like landlords, some of us get the bosses that we don’t deserve.

One of the most important things every working person must learn is that not every manager deserves your talents, writes Liz Ryan of the Human Workplace.

“There’re great mentors in the business world and there’re other managers who aren’t qualified to shine your shoes. You have to be able to tell the difference,” she advises.

In my long professional career, I have had my fair share of toxic bosses. We soon discover that a person’s degrees and work experience have little relation to his or her maturity and professionalism when they stab us in the back.

If you are smart and capable, some managers will be ecstatic and others will become fearful and hostile. These fearful managers don’t want smart and capable people around them.

It intimidates them when they are not in control of the situation or captain of the ship. Subordinates must feel the presence of the boss. Such bosses are not leaders. They boss people around and cut you down with cruel comments to let you know who’s in charge. They will dress you down for trivial things, and take a swift u-turn to try to knock you off balance.

And all the while, you are trying to fathom what you did wrong to ‘bring your manager’s wrath down upon you.’

You didn’t do anything wrong. You just pitched up in the wrong department and did your job a little too well for your fearful manager’s taste.

When things get heated in the kitchen, you must spot the signs that tell your boss wants you out.

Your reporting relationship changes for no reason. At a company I worked, I was suddenly told I would now fall under the new marketing director after enjoying a long happy spell reporting directly to the managing director (MD).

While on the surface it looked logical, with the MD away most of the time managing another unit, it soon emerged that it was the financial director’s bright idea. He did not like the autonomy I enjoyed influencing the purchasing decisions.

It was clear that the marketing director’s mandate was to, first, put me in a box, and second, to frustrate me. To this day, I have nightmares about the marketing strategy that he foisted on me.

It is the first step in my boss’ plan to paint me as a poor performer and ease me out of the door.

Your manager will only communicate with you via email. Why would a manager stop talking to you in person or over the phone, and put all the communication with you in writing instead? They’ll do it if they want to create a “paper trail.” Accumulating evidence to be used against you in the future perhaps?

You can assume that all your manager’s email messages are being copied to HR or to your boss’ boss. The face-to-face and telephone conversations disappear and suddenly the only way your manager communicates with you is in writing.

Your performance review is delayed without explanation. I have had to face this countless times particularly when I looked forward to the opportunity to express reservations about my job.

Performance reviews get delayed for all kinds of reasons, but if you’re feeling the chill in the air and your performance review is also delayed with no explanation, be wary.

Be suspicious because it is likely that your written appraisal is a critical part of your boss’ plan to terminate you for upsetting her with your competence.

You are sent to training you don’t need. If you know how to take a hint, observe the times when your boss recommends that you go for training all in the name of ‘Continuous Development.’

When you are booked into a course on ‘How to be a great team player’ know that it’s all part of a plan to convince others that you do not play to your boss’ rules so you need retraining.

Now all your manager should do to get a green light from the human resources department (HR) for your termination is to tell them, “Sadly, the extra training didn’t help.”

They bring HR into the conversation. The final nail in the coffin that your boss has been preparing for you is when they bring the human resources department into the conversation about your imaginary defects.

I was summoned before the HR director by that marketing director I earlier told you about. I soon felt like a lamb before slaughter. The trumped-up evidence about my incompetence was overwhelming.

What shocked me was that while I was busy creating the marketing strategy the boss was supposed to have done himself, he was spending quality time setting me up. Where was my beloved MD when I needed him most?

The kangaroo court before the HR director was short and swift. It was so obvious my boss had no desire to continue working with me. He was intimidated by my glowing flame, plain and simple.

My boss wanted to be the brightest spark in the room. There was nothing wrong with me — the company had picked the wrong person for me to work under!

Human resources expert Davies Ndumiso Sibanda recommends that you negotiate a severance package on your way out. If you have the chance to meet privately with an HR person, tell them the truth.

Tell them that your boss has invented a story in which you are a problem employee, merely because he or she doesn’t want to work with you.
HR can help you get a fair severance deal or even move into another department. I managed to get a golden boot. Though I had to rely a lot on poetic justice to get even. I was too shocked to have an exit strategy. Don’t make the same mistake.

The big lesson is knowing how to avoid a fearful boss in the future. You are more likely to spot a weak manager before you accept a job. The fact of the matter is that not every manager deserves your talents!