How to deal with a bad boss

How to deal with a bad boss Heres what a bad boss is: Someone who lies, cheats, steals, or touches you after youve told him, in writing, not to. If you have one of these bosses, quit complaining and start applying for other jobs. All other bosses arent truly bad youre just bad at managing them. A  Boss-Management Decalogue One of the most important parts of being competent at work is managing up: Making sure you give your boss what he or she needs, and then getting what you need in return. Thats no ones responsibility but your own. Here are 10 ways to manage your boss: 1. Understand the person youre dealing with. Is she detail-oriented? Give her detailed reports. Is she a big-picture thinker? Tell her your big ideas. Does he like voicemail? Then leave some, even if you hate using it. Understand her personality strengths and weaknesses, because this is usually the path toward forging a relationship. If you know her weaknesses, you can have empathy for her shortcomings instead of impatience. And whatever you feel will show, so figure out how to feel compassion for your boss, or youll get nowhere with her. 2. Ask for your quarterly goals, in writing. If you dont have goals, how can you even know what your job is? And if you dont know what your job is, you can be sure you wont make your boss happy. If your boss does not know your goals either, write your own. Create a fun job for yourself that will be an integral part of the companys strategy. If your boss doesnt like the goals you create, shell suddenly be able to come up with them herself. 3. Know your bosss biggest worries, and help him address them. Why are you working on projects your boss doesnt care about? Your job is to make your boss love you so he helps you get the skills you need to grow in your career. If you have stuff on your plate that doesnt matter, do it fast, and dont worry about being judged on the quality of this work because your boss doesnt care. Focus on the stuff that matters to your boss, because thats what will make your boss love you. 4. Look at your bosss weaknesses as opportunities. If your boss is great at project management, then surely she doesnt need you to do that. Be great at the stuff your boss is terrible at like people management, maybe and help your boss rally her troops. If shes great at sales but hates the detailed reporting, get great at the reporting and offer to do all the stuff she hates to do. If your boss is terrible at managing meetings, instead of complaining about it, volunteer to do the brunt of the organizing for him. Hell appreciate that way more than you helping with stuff he doesnt worry about. 5. Focus on your own needs by focusing on your bosss needs. You and your boss are a team. You make your boss look great in the organization and in the world, and your boss will help you grow and meet your own goals. To do this, you need to focus more on helping your boss and less on doing work you love. The first act begets the second: A boss who feels indebted to you will give you what you want. 6. See the good in people. Dont tell me your boss doesnt care about you, or that hes only concerned with the bottom line. Its not humanly possible for your boss to not care about you if you understand him, are there for him, support him, and genuinely care. You have to be authentic with your boss to develop a real relationship. Figure out how to care about him deeply as a person whom you can help. If you cant do this for your boss, how can you expect it from him? 7. Get a list of your bosss priorities. When you have too much work, this allows you to tell your boss that you cant do x, y, and z because theyre not high enough priorities to him. In other words, you can say, I could do x, but you said a, b, and c are very important to you, and I dont want to compromise those. This is a great way of saying no to work in a way that makes your boss feel very respected, understood, and taken care of. 8. Prioritize your own work in terms of what matters to your boss. Fit your high-priority items into a reasonable schedule, and dont do low-priority items until the important stuff is done. This allows you to always deliver on what matters to your boss. Keeping your boss happy means being a high performer. People dont care if you perform well on stuff that doesnt matter to them, so dont. 9. Give weekly updates. It doesnt matter if your boss asks for them or not. This is a team report, for you and your boss; youre the team, working on your bosss priorities. This is when you tell your boss how much youve accomplished that will help her. Tell her things you see that might be roadblocks for her, and how you can help her fix them in the next week. Also tell her what youre planning to do thats extremely important to her so shes sure not to ask you to do unimportant work over the next week. 10. Dont get stuck on personality types. We each have preferences for the people we hang out with. But the most successful people can get along with anyone. If you cant get along with the type of person your boss is, its your shortcoming, not his. Read some psychology books about social monitors, and how we can teach ourselves to authentically connect with anyone by practicing empathy. And then do it. After all, why is it your bosss job to adjust to you? Youre the one with the problem. The Choice Is Yours The bottom line: Take responsibility for yourself. No one forces you to have the job you have. You could leave anytime If youre not going to leave, then youre choosing the boss you have. And since you chose your boss, start making her into a good one. Otherwise, why did you choose her?