How to talk about your boss in English

Hello. My name is Emma; and in today's video, we are going to talk about words

and vocabulary you can use when describing your boss. So, if you've ever

had a job, or you're planning on getting a job in the future, or if you like to

watch movies or TV shows, a lot of these expressions you'll... you'll hear or you

might even use. So, let's get started with a warning. Okay? I'm going to teach

you a lot of common expressions, and some of them are very negative, which

means: Do not say these expressions to your boss. Okay? So, these expressions

are the ones you use when you're talking to your friends about your boss, when

you're complaining about your boss to maybe your close colleagues or your

family; they're not for you to tell your boss: "I think you're blank." Okay?

Because a lot of these are common expressions, but they are a little bit

negative. So, with that warning, let's get started.

The first expression I want to teach you is one that is used a lot today, and

that word is "micromanager". Okay, so "micro" means small, and then we have

the word "manager". A "micromanager" is a boss that tries to control everything.

Okay? So, you have your job, you're trying to do your work, but your boss

keeps trying to control all aspects of your work. So, they closely watch you

all the time, they don't trust you; they try to control all aspects of what you

do. So, this type of boss is a "micromanager". And a lot of people find

"micromanagers" annoying or difficult to work with. Okay? So, if you want this

used in a sentence, you could say: "My boss is a micromanager". "Micromanager"

is a noun. The next expression is the expression: "to play favourites". I have

the Canadian or British spelling of "favourites" here. If you're living in

the US, you don't need the "u" here. "Play favourites". What does it mean "to

play favourites"? A boss who "plays favourites" is a boss who shows they

like some people better than others. So, some people they might give special

treatment to; maybe they let them leave work early, or maybe they choose them

for the best assignments. So, someone who "plays favourites" is someone who

gives better treatment to some employees instead of others. So, there's no equal.

Okay? People are not equal in... in this company, or with this boss. So, if you

want to use this in a sentence, you can say: "My boss plays favourites." Okay?

Now, the next expression is: "overly critical". So, "overly" is another way

to say "too" — "t–⁠o–⁠o". You've heard of "too much" — "too" or "overly". You

can use either; you can say: "overly critical" or "too critical". They mean

the same thing. So, when somebody is "overly critical" or "too critical", it

means they tell you what you do that is wrong, and they tell you what you do

that is wrong a lot. So, when you go to work, imagine your boss tells you: "Oh,

you made a mistake here. You didn't do this right. I don't know what your

problem is — you made a mistake here. You can't do anything right." This is

someone who is "overly critical"; they only talk about problems. They never

tell you what you are doing that is good or that is right. Okay? So, it's... if

this is feedback, good feedback, negative feedback — with "overly

critical", you don't get any good feedback; you get all bad feedback. So,

if you want to use this in a sentence, you can say: "My boss is

overly-critical." So, it's an adjective, "overly-critical". Now, let's look at

some other expressions we can use to describe our boss.

Okay. So, maybe some of you out there have had a boss who is "too demanding".

And, again, "too" means the same thing as "overly", so you could even say:

"overly demanding" — both are possible. If your boss is "too demanding", this

means that they want you to do a lot of work, but an unrealistic amount of work.

So, there's too much work. Or they don't give you enough time to do the work. So,

"too demanding" means they're giving you way too much to do, and too little time

to do it. So, we use this a lot when we're talking about bosses: "Oh, he was

way too demanding.", "My boss is way too demanding." And this is an adjective.

Okay? The next expression is when someone is "getting on your case". "To

get on someone's case". So, this expression is when somebody — in this

case, your boss; you can also use this when you're talking about your parents,

or your teacher, or somebody else — they keep asking you or bothering you about

doing something. Okay? So, for example: "My boss is getting on my case about

coming into work late." So, maybe in that case, your boss should be on your

case. But people are annoyed when someone is "on their case" — it means

somebody keeps saying the same thing to them, which people find annoying. So,

bothering or frequently asking you about something. So, "getting on your case".

The next expression I really like is "power-trip". So, we often say "on" —

that's a preposition — "on a power-trip". So, what does it mean to be

"on a power-trip"? Well, if you are "on a power-trip", what it means is that you

have become very bossy, very arrogant, not nice. Okay? So, you become maybe a

bit nasty. Maybe you're abusive to people, you say things that aren't nice,

and you do it because you have a lot of power. So, for some people, when they

get power, we say in English: "It goes to their head", meaning that suddenly

they have this power, so they feel like they can treat people badly just because

they can, because they have power. So, we call that "being on a power-trip".

So, if I wanted to use an example, I could say, you know: "I saw my boss this

morning; she was on a power-trip. She yelled at all the employees for no good

reason. My boss was on a power-trip."

The next expression: "anal retentive". You can also say: "anal". This comes

from... it's an older word that comes from Freud — if you're interested in

psychology; but if not, that's okay. We use the word "anal" when we're talking

about someone who is obsessed with details. Sorry. So, "anal retentive" or

"anal" — you can use either — is a person who is strict, obsessed with

details, and it's annoying to other people. So, for example, I could say:

"My boss is so anal. She made me rewrite the report ten times because she wanted

it done her way." So, that means she's very strict. She's obsessed with the

details. "She's very anal." Or: "My boss is very anal. He wants me to do reports

in this way, even though they take a lot more time. He's very strict." So, we can

use this, again, when somebody is obsessed with details that we think

don't really matter. Okay. Now let's look at... We've looked at a whole bunch

of negative ways to describe our boss; now it's time to describe the bosses we

love — positive ways to describe our bosses because some bosses are amazing,

so let's hear some expressions to do that.

Okay. So, the list of positive characteristics of a boss is a lot

smaller — not because, you know, there aren't good bosses out there. There are

a lot of amazing bosses, but I find that people don't spend as much time talking

about amazing bosses, unfortunately. Usually when you talk about an amazing

boss, you just say: "Oh, my boss is wonderful. I love her.", "My boss is

amazing. He's... he's great." So, I find that people don't spend as much time

talking about really good bosses, which is sad; they should. But I find usually,

you spend a lot more time talking about the bosses you don't like. So, on this

list, I have five... five expressions or words that people would use to talk

about a very good boss. The first one is "supportive". Okay? If I want to talk

about how great my boss is, I might say: "She is so supportive", which means

she's very helpful, she's very encouraging. She is "supportive"; you

feel like you can trust her because she is very supportive of you. So, this is a

common way to talk about good bosses. We might also talk about a good boss as

"approachable". So, "approachable" — if you notice, part of the word is

"approach" and then "able". "Approachable" means someone who is easy

to talk to and who is very friendly. When we see someone who is

"approachable", it's easy for us to, you know, tell them about the work or to

talk to them about anything. Some people are not "approachable"; they're very

intimidating, and talking to them is really... you feel very nervous. This is

opposite of an "approachable person". An "approachable person" is someone who's

very warm and friendly, and easy to talk to. So, I could say: "My manager is very

approachable; I can ask her anything, and there's no problem."

The next expression we use a lot when we talk about bosses is the word "mentor".

So, while "supportive" and "approachable" are adjectives, the word

"mentor" is a noun. So, we would say: "a mentor". So, if my boss is "a mentor" to

me, that means that my boss is in a position where they spend time training

me, they spend time giving me advice; and most importantly, they spend a lot

of time to help me grow and develop my skills. So, not all bosses are

"mentors". But "a mentor" is a boss who really focuses on how to make you grow,

and be the best employee or person you can be. So, if you find a good "mentor"

— that is an amazing thing in life. The next word is "professional". We often

use the word "professional" to describe bosses, or even coworkers who dress well

at work, who are very careful with what they say and what they do, who are

always on time, who are very considerate of other people's time, as well as who

are very diplomatic or tactful. So, I've just said a lot of things, but

"professional" is actually... it's a big adjective, meaning it describes a lot of

different actions. So, someone who is "professional" is calm, they're fair,

they're very rational, they think well, and they're very diplomatic. So,

"professional", again, means many things. The main way to look at

"professional" is someone who's doing a really good job; and who, you know, is

acting in a respectful and careful way at work. So, "professional" is a great

Finally, the last word I wanted to look at is "fair". "Fair" means a boss who

acts in a way that's consistent with the rules. Remember I talked earlier about

way to describe a boss.

"playing favourites", where some bosses say: "Oh, I like this person, so I'm

going to treat them better than this person"? A boss who is "fair" does not

"play favourites"; they treat everybody the same. Okay? They are "fair". So,

they have the same rules and they apply those rules to everyone the same; they

are very fair. So, if you want to describe your boss in a positive way,

you might use some of these words. And before this, I taught you a whole bunch

of negative words to describe your boss. So, if you want to complain to your

friends about your boss, or you know, just get some emotions expressed about

how you feel about work, you can use those words, too.

So, thank you for watching. I know we've covered a lot of expressions today. If

you want to practice what you've learned in this video, you can visit us at

www.engvid.com. And there, you can actually take a quiz to make sure you

understand the meaning of all the words I've taught to you today. You can also

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me. So, thank you so much for watching; and until next time, take care.