World events this week have concentrated on the coup of the democratic government in Thailand and the uprisings in Hungary trying to force out their prime minister. These two events were both precipitated by elected politicians who not only proved to be bad leaders, but corrupt ones as well.

It led me to think about some managers I've met in my time who have used and abused, lied, stolen ideas from, and bullied employees who have worked for them. Not that I don't see that same thing now, but these days there's more of a sense of "You can't get away with that", and I don't think it's such a bad thing.

Workers today aren't as inclined to believe in the "family" theory of employment, and unionized or not, I could see a situation where it's possible that an overwhelming majority of employees would walk out, or pull their own version of "blue flu", to show solidarity against a bad manager or employer than in the past. And, because more and more positions need some sort of technical skill, or have a learning curve that's longer than just a couple of weeks, that sort of thing could cripple a business, especially if their cash margin was really tight.

Being a bad manager will kill your business; it might also put you out the door, looking for new employment. Because, as sports has shown us, it's easier to replace one person than to replace an entire team.