Two kinds of
bosses exist: one from heaven, the other from hell. The former are cause for
happiness in the workplace. Many people won’t be lured elsewhere even for
plenty of cash because they love working with their boss. It’s the ones from
hell that workers are worried about.
Some bosses are
just inexperienced, living in another time zone or are always on the golf
course. Some may just be clueless about how to lead and manage others.
But, are they really bad bosses?
Some
characteristics they may exhibit include treating staff unfairly and misusing
power. They may also play favourites, covering up for their favourites’ poor
work to the detriment of others.
They may be
intimidating and even abusive. They may even be functionally incompetent, and
they may be continually nitpicking, fault-finding, lack integrity, break
promises or are dishonest. The list is endless.
Besides feeling
sorry for yourself, you can:
1 Give him/her a chance
Try to get along
with your boss. Bad or not, he’s the most important person in your working
life. You report to him, and he is the person who supervises your work,
determines the quality of your future and whether or not you have one.
Bosses also have
issues and problems. You’re in a pressure cooker of work and so is he. Is there
a way you may be of support to him and work with him, rather than against him?
2 Look at yourself
Step away from
your prejudices and see things from his point of view. Question whether you
aggravate your boss and whether your attitude, performance or manner brings out
the worst in him. Bosses from hell are sometimes created by employees from
hell.
Here are some
examples:
-Lateness.
Lateness implies unprofessionalism, unreliability and bad attitude. Everyone
has late days once in a while, but those who have to watch out are those whose
late days are from Monday to Friday.
-Lack of
initiative. Bosses dislike staff who need their hands held every step of the
way. They pester the boss with silly questions about the details they just
received and misconstrue directions and instructions.
Sooner or later,
the boss starts to think, “If I need to tell this person what to do and how to
do it, I may as well do it myself. In which case, why am I paying him?”
-Wrong
information. Bosses hate it when they are given inaccurate information,
especially when they convey it to others. They look silly, as if it was their
fault when it’s yours. They hate having to point out wrong figures, outdated
statistics, inaccurate, inadequate information.
All these are
strong signals of sloppiness and incompetence. Continued sending of these
signals will signal a departure — yours.
-Bad attitude.
Bosses do not like working with those who have absolutely no passion and interest
in their work, who are not motivated, who cannot be bothered or who just cannot
care less.
This is evident
in shoddy work, laziness, missed deadlines and surliness when given a task.
If you are
guilty of any or all of the above traits, then you are the problem, not your
boss. You have to shape up or ship out.
But if you are a
good worker and your boss’s behaviour is demoralising you, you have to take the
next step.
