You should always be careful with ultimatums, particularly when you’re really just on a power trip and bluffing… Sooner or later, someone is going to call you on your bluff, and you’re going to be left standing there with your hands tied, looking pretty silly.
Still, this is a favorite tactic amongst toxic managers, who relish the idea of threatening their workers with firing more than J. Jonah Jameson. There’s nothing they enjoy more than putting a proverbial gun to your head, putting your family’s livelihood on the line just because you wanted to take a couple of days off to spend Christmas with your family.
Then, these same managers are surprised when you show them no loyalty, decrying workers, and the fact that “No one wants to work anymore.” People want to work, buddy. They just don’t want to work for you…
See this worker’s story below, which they shared about the time that their boss’s threats drove them to call their boss’s bluff and quit on the spot.
