The Devil Wears Prada
Office-Politics lessons from "The Devil Wears Prada"
Think you have the world’s worst boss? How does your boss measure up against the Boss-from-Hell? By Franke James, MFA
The Devil Wears Prada will no doubt fuel some hot, haute water-cooler chat. Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger, the film is a wickedly funny tale about working for a boss who is a tyrant (rumor has it that the book was inspired by Weisberger's stint at Vogue Magazine working for Anna Wintour). Meryl Streep stars as Miranda Priestly, Editor-in-Chief of Runway Magazine. Think Cruella de Ville with Medusa eyes. While the movie is an entertaining romp about the travails of working for a tyrannical boss, it raises some important questions: If you work for a Boss-from-Hell how do you cope?
Is your boss a Boss-from-Hell?
Is your boss bullying you or simply delivering a tough-love message?
Are you a victim or just paying your dues?
Does your boss thrive on chaos?
Does your boss make impossible demands?
Does your boss play the office politics game
1. Is your boss a Boss-from-Hell?
Miranda quickly established her role as the ‘Master’ over her ‘Slave’ employees. She lived, ate, and breathed her career. Work and life had merged into one unified and indivisible whole. She expected everyone to have the same devotion to Runway Magazine. Employees time with family and friends was an expendable commodity, a frill.
Miranda refused to address her new assistant Andy (Anne Hathaway) by her proper name, and substituted the name of her other assistant.
She demanded that Andy be on call 24/7 (without adequate compensation)
She gave a long list of demands without allowing any questions and expected employees to know the details of each task, but did not provide any training.
She sent Andy on multiple errands, without clear instructions, and an impossibly short time-frame under threat of being fired if she did not deliver.
She insulted her intelligence and mocked her style of dress,
Think you have the world’s worst boss? How does your boss measure up against the Boss-from-Hell? By Franke James, MFA
The Devil Wears Prada will no doubt fuel some hot, haute water-cooler chat. Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger, the film is a wickedly funny tale about working for a boss who is a tyrant (rumor has it that the book was inspired by Weisberger's stint at Vogue Magazine working for Anna Wintour). Meryl Streep stars as Miranda Priestly, Editor-in-Chief of Runway Magazine. Think Cruella de Ville with Medusa eyes. While the movie is an entertaining romp about the travails of working for a tyrannical boss, it raises some important questions: If you work for a Boss-from-Hell how do you cope?
Is your boss a Boss-from-Hell?
Is your boss bullying you or simply delivering a tough-love message?
Are you a victim or just paying your dues?
Does your boss thrive on chaos?
Does your boss make impossible demands?
Does your boss play the office politics game
1. Is your boss a Boss-from-Hell?
Miranda quickly established her role as the ‘Master’ over her ‘Slave’ employees. She lived, ate, and breathed her career. Work and life had merged into one unified and indivisible whole. She expected everyone to have the same devotion to Runway Magazine. Employees time with family and friends was an expendable commodity, a frill.
Miranda refused to address her new assistant Andy (Anne Hathaway) by her proper name, and substituted the name of her other assistant.
She demanded that Andy be on call 24/7 (without adequate compensation)
She gave a long list of demands without allowing any questions and expected employees to know the details of each task, but did not provide any training.
She sent Andy on multiple errands, without clear instructions, and an impossibly short time-frame under threat of being fired if she did not deliver.
She insulted her intelligence and mocked her style of dress,