Bad Boss?? Five steps before you take this job and shove it!

Everybody who has ever worked can tell you stories about bad bosses.  Some bosses take the credit for their employee’s work, micromanage people who don’t need it,  yell and abuse workers in front of their peers, and some simply don’t show up…ever.

There are great bosses too.  Ones who inspire their employees, motivate and promote.  It is Heaven when you get one of those.  But a bad boss can make your life miserable and stall your career.

You could push back, argue and fight.  Not smart.  You could go over their heads and complain to upper management.  Not smart (unless you have extra strong, credible proof and several eye witnesses but even then be very, very careful).  You could just bad mouth them to any coworker in the breakroom or even on social media.  Definitely not smart.  It would be great and definitely satisfying if any of these worked, however I promise you that none will do anything but get YOU out of working–permanently.

Here’s what to do to keep you moving up instead of out…

Assess exactly what is happening:

1 Take a critical look at yourself first.  It there anything lacking in your job performance?  Are you misunderstanding what your boss wants versus what you think he wants?  Is it simply a personality conflict?  Be very honest.  If there is something you need to change, do it.  Make this a priority.

2. Write down what you think is wrong.  Take any hurt feelings out of it.  This is business, not personal so don’t take it personally.  At all.

3. Write down concrete solutions.  Be realistic.

4. Very importantly, if you have a mentor (and everyone should) show them what you have written down.  If you do not already have a mentor, find someone who is:

• Extremely trustworthy and honest and not emotionally involved with you (not a spouse or helicopter Mom or Dad please)
• Preferably not working at the same company
• Has more work and life experience
• At the same or higher management level as your boss.

5. Ask this person to be completely honest with you about your assessment and solutions then ask what they would do in the same situation.

There will be two ways you can handle this:

1. Ignore the abuse.  This really doesn’t work in the long run, because you will find yourself becoming resentful.  If you are planning to leave for another job soon and have some concrete opportunities and/or offers already, you may just stay low and hang in there until you leave.  Remember your ultimate goal is to move forward in your career, not get even.  Not worth your time.
2. Tactfully discuss the issues and solutions with your boss.  Before you do this, get with your mentor and script everything you need to say.  Notice I did not say what you “want” to say.  Take the emotion out and simply state facts as well as offer solutions.  Your goal here is to understand and be understood, not vindicated.  Take the emotion out and take the high road.

At the end of the day you will have ‘adulted’ well, perhaps made some positive inroads into a better work environment and at the very least retained your self respect.

Good job!