Talking about rumours
Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
Will: Kiera, have you heard John isn't coming back and they might even fire him?
Kiera: No! I knew he was away but I thought it was for personal reasons?
Will: I'm pretty sure that's not the full story. Have you ever worked with him?
Kiera: A long time ago, but … well, I've heard stories about him for years.
Will: I've never worked with him directly but I know people that have and they say he was always shouting and screaming, threatening to fire people. And Susanne told me he took credit for one of her ideas. She had this idea for a project and she brought it up at the monthly creative workshop and he liked it – everybody did. But she saw the notes from the meeting and there was no mention of her name anywhere. John had agreed with her and repeated some of the things she said and the notes made it look like they were his ideas in the first place. He made her do all the work planning it, then when the project actually got started – it was that cars one – Susanne was moved to something else.
Kiera: It won an award, didn't it?
Will: Yeah, but Susanne didn't get to share it – there was zero recognition of her contribution. She was furious but she couldn't do anything about it. Not if she wanted to keep her job.
Kiera: Yeah, it's almost impossible to report people who are as high up as John is, or was.
Will: How did you find working with him, then?
Kiera: Well, you know what you said about him shouting at people? I've been in meetings with him and we all learned to keep our mouths shut. It was horrible. People were genuinely afraid of him.
Will: Did you ever see him stealing people's ideas?
Kiera: It was never that obvious. He was a genius. He had incredible vision but, you know, there was a whole team of people working with him. Not every single idea came from him and after a while it's not easy to say, 'Oh, this idea was mine and this idea was yours.' For me, the bigger problem was that you could be in his good books and then suddenly, with no explanation, you were out. And if you were out, life got very difficult.
Will: I heard women in particular had a hard time working with him.
Kiera: Yeah, well, like I said, you had to stay in his good books. So, if there was a comment that made you feel uncomfortable, you didn't say anything.
Will: Did that happen to you?
Kiera: Not to me, no, but we all knew … and no one said anything. And I was lucky I didn't have that much contact with him myself.
Will: They're doing a full investigation so I suppose a lot of these stories are going to come to light.
Kiera: I hope so. I really hope he's not coming back.
Hello my name is Aditya Indarto and I'm from Tanjungpura University. A good boss is a person that creates communication clearly with anyone without a position to know, open up discussion if there is a problem, and treats employees respectfully. A bad boss is someone who steals other people ideas and not giving credit to it, disrespect other people and treating bad other people.
Hi hello my name is Ikrar Dinata Andalas and i'm from Tanjungpura University. In my opinion, a leader should give a good example for their subordinate. Not stealing ideas from their own subordinate.
Hello, I'm Assyifa Indriani a third semester student from Tanjungpura University, Indonesian.
My answer is a good boss is someone who treats their employees well, while a bad boss is someone who is selfish and only thinks about themselves.
I also have opinion after listening this audio, it's kind a difficult but fun, like listening rumours from our area.
This is the first time I comment in BBC website. Nice to meet you who is read my comment.
Hello, I'm Shovie, a student from University of Tanjungpura.
A good leader must be telling someone with low tone, no shout or yelling at someone. I hope I don't see a leader like that in the future.
A Good Boss Gives explicit credit to team members for their ideas and contributions. Encourages open dialogue, feedback, and psychological safety. Maintains consistent standards, objectivity, and transparent expectations. Holds themselves accountable and treats all team members with professional respect.
A Bad Boss Steals ideas, takes full credit, and hides others' contributions. Creates fear, shouts, and forces employees to "keep their mouths shut". Operates on unpredictable favoritism ("in their good books" vs. suddenly "out"). Leverages power to intimidate and makes inappropriate or uncomfortable comments.
someone who treats with respect
a good leade teaches you how to make something, he make you feel confident.
Hello, a good leader is the person who knows how to teach, treats everybody with respect, and makes you feel confident with your whole team.
From my point of view a good boss builds trust through clear communication, empathy, and empowering their team to succeed. On the other hand a bad boss relies on micromanagement, shifts blame onto others, and fosters a defensive environment. The key difference lies in whether a leader inspires growth or instills fear and control.
My last presentation was unforgettable. Because it was an online presentation, and when I started the presentation, my pc didn’t work, and I couldn’t start the presentation. But I joined the meeting, and at this time my pc worked correctly. So I was able to start the presentation.
This situation showed me that if you have a problem or issue in your work, or something. You should think basically. Because generally there is a basic solution to a hard problem.