Leader’s behavior bothers volunteers

Dear Annie: We are volunteers at an educational center that teaches English, provides tutoring and offers social services to minorities. The problem is our supervisor. He is constantly rude and sharp with the volunteers, as well as with prospective financial donors who could help support the program. When we bring this to his attention, he will take some responsibility in the moment, but he proceeds the next day as if the conversation never took place.

Over the past seven years, his behavior has gotten worse. I know he received some counseling in the past, but there has been no improvement. We have watched him bark orders at the paid staff, and he seldom uses “please” or “thank you” with anyone. He takes advantage of the volunteers by asking them to do personal favors, and he once asked a volunteer to loan him money.

He reports to a board where he has formed a couple of friendships that are more personal than professional, and they aren’t inclined to do anything. How do we handle this? We don’t want to quit, although a couple of valuable people have left and it has had a huge impact. We have put a lot of time and energy into this program and have formed relationships with the students. We don’t want to shortchange them because of this supervisor. Any suggestions? – Feeling Stepped On

Dear Stepped On: Asking for personal favors and loans is completely inappropriate and should be reported. However, if continuous attempts to get the supervisor to change his ways have failed and the board will not intervene, your choice is to put up with this behavior or leave. Some people would interpret the supervisor’s personality as more brusque than bullying and would ignore most of it. In fact, you might even be able to correct him at the time, as long as you use tolerant humor. If you opt to stay, this is the tack we would recommend.