These categories were originally about abusive men, but my friend Stephanie noticed these categories could be adapted to describe abusive companies, too. From the book "Why Does He Do That?":
1. Drill Sergeant: Micromanages you, wants to control everything.
2. Mr. Sensitive: Builds up a public image of being a great company so people think you're crazy if you criticize them.
3. The Water Torturer: Is an expert at not doing anything OBVIOUSLY wrong, you feel wronged but can't pinpoint why and wonder if you're crazy.
4. The Demand Man (or Company): Everything seems fine if you never ask for anything, like a raise. If you do that, you're suddenly painted as ungrateful and treated poorly.
5. Mr. Right: Everything is fine so long as you don't question the company's actions or say anything critical about them.
6. The Player: Never lets you feel like the job is stable. Acts interested in you only to hook you in, then you're neglected and treated poorly again.
7. Rambo: Treats everyone like shit, but tells you you're special and an exception.
8. The Victim: You caused the company so much trouble, you really messed up that one time, any mistreatment happening to you now is making up for that.
9. The Terrorist: Reminds you of the power they have to ruin your career or life, so you better not go against them.
10. Bipolar: The company oscillates between being angry and then happy with you depending on the state of your current project. They become angry when a problem is identified, and when you fix it they are temporarily happy.
1. Drill Sergeant: Micromanages you, wants to control everything.
2. Mr. Sensitive: Builds up a public image of being a great company so people think you're crazy if you criticize them.
3. The Water Torturer: Is an expert at not doing anything OBVIOUSLY wrong, you feel wronged but can't pinpoint why and wonder if you're crazy.
4. The Demand Man (or Company): Everything seems fine if you never ask for anything, like a raise. If you do that, you're suddenly painted as ungrateful and treated poorly.
5. Mr. Right: Everything is fine so long as you don't question the company's actions or say anything critical about them.
6. The Player: Never lets you feel like the job is stable. Acts interested in you only to hook you in, then you're neglected and treated poorly again.
7. Rambo: Treats everyone like shit, but tells you you're special and an exception.
8. The Victim: You caused the company so much trouble, you really messed up that one time, any mistreatment happening to you now is making up for that.
9. The Terrorist: Reminds you of the power they have to ruin your career or life, so you better not go against them.
10. Bipolar: The company oscillates between being angry and then happy with you depending on the state of your current project. They become angry when a problem is identified, and when you fix it they are temporarily happy.