Toxic Leadership Stories Exposed: Time to Vote for Australia's Worst Boss

More than 200 eye-opening tales of toxic leadership have flooded in from across Australia as part of the Australia’s Worst Boss campaign, with the public now invited to vote for their top story.

Launched by local HR tech company Compono, the campaign aims to highlight the poor management Australians deal with, to spark real conversations about leadership and workplace wellbeing.

The 10 most outrageous stories have been shortlisted and Australia has until 28 September to vote for their favourite, to see whose story will be crowned “worst of the worst”.

Compono CEO and corporate psychologist, Rudy Crous, said that while some stories may sound unbelievable, they reflect a very real and growing problem in Australian workplaces.

“It’s easy to shake your head at how extreme some of these stories are, but behind every story is someone who felt disrespected, stressed or undervalued and let down by poor leadership,”     said Mr Crous, who has spent 20 years helping organisations address workplace dysfunction.

“For too long, signs of bad leadership have been brushed off as personality quirks or just part of the job. But bad leadership isn’t just an inconvenience – it destroys careers, damages mental health, and cripples organisations.

“This campaign is a chance to hold up a mirror and start a more honest conversation about how to build healthier, high-functioning leaders and teams. Most bad bosses aren’t bad people – they’re often just under-supported or poorly trained.”

A few of the wildest entries include:

• A micromanaging boss who insisted his employee remain on call 24/7, even when snorkelling overseas on holiday.
• A boss who forced staff to watch his recreations of historic battles using 18th-century figurines at the office.
• A boss whose $200k luxury car parked outside led staff to recognise it signalled layoffs were coming, before he fled with $20 million.
• A manager who berated an employee while they were in the hospital emergency department for not reporting her absence quickly enough.

The winning story will be announced on 13 October, with the author receiving a $5,000 holiday voucher and a "career glow-up" including three sessions with a corporate psychologist.

For every vote received, Compono is donating $1 to mental health charity R U OK?

Read the Top 10 Stories and cast your vote for Australia’s Worst Boss Story here.

Compono uses behavioural science, AI, and organisational psychology to help organisations avoid bad bosses through better hiring, culture insights, and leadership development.

Media enquiries:
Laura Pocoe Adoni Media | 0499 646 083 | laura@adonimedia.com.au

media@compono.com