11 signs your boss is passive aggressive

Having a passive-aggressive boss is the worst.

Here's a weird historical example to prove that point, involving Tsar Ivan IV (spoiler alert: he's now remembered as Ivan the Terrible).

After years of squabbling with the powerful boyars (Russian noble families), Ivan stormed out of Moscow in 1564. From his self-imposed exile, he sent out letters announcing the possibility of his abdication, according to "Ivan the Terrible" by Robert Payne and Nikita Romanoff. The tsar cited the corruption within the upper echelons of Russian society as the main reason for his departure.

Good for the boyars, right? Nope. Ivan's departure put Moscow on edge. Fearing violence, the boyars begged him to stay in power. Of course, before he would kiss and make up, Ivan had a few conditions - namely, seizing absolute power that would allow him to persecute any perceived traitors without oversight. In the subsequent years, he proceeded to wreak havoc on the boyars and anyone else he saw as disloyal.

Pretty passive aggressive, right?

If you think of Ivan as a sort of early modern boss, you can begin to understand why a passive aggressive manager is a dangerous manager. They've got all the bitterness and wrath of a plain old aggressive boss, but they're much subtler, and therefore harder to deal with.

Therefore, it's imperative that you learn to pick up on some of the tell-tale symptoms. Here are 11 signs that your boss is passive aggressive: