Shelly\u2019s wrote:<\/p>\n
Dear Practical Mentor,<\/p>\n
I have been working under my current boss for 1 year. His management style is one of a kind. I’m writing in for any advice that could help ease my frustration and view the situation from a different perspective.<\/p>\n
My boss has a Jeckel & Hyde personality. You never know which personality will show up to work. He could be micromanaging or unreachable, friendly or scolding, absent from work or complaining that I took too long of a lunch break – you get the idea. In the office he is labeled, Michael Scott from the sitcom ‘The Office’ which represents an unproductive and mindless character. He shows favoritism, makes employees cry, doesn’t give recognition, refuses to hold yearly reviews, condescending to most women in the office, and would never be considered as a reliable\/respectable reference if I ever left the company.<\/p>\n
Any advice around this topic would help me and many others out there with a ‘Michael Scott’ boss.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Shelly<\/p>\n
Getting along with the boss is one of most important parts of your job and sometimes the hardest.\u00a0 At one of my first management courses the first question the instructor asked was \u201cWhat is the most important part of your job?\u201d\u00a0 He went around the room having each of us answer.\u00a0 Being new managers, we all answered what our roles were: to accomplish the company goals; to get the work done; to supervise our staff; to demonstrate leadership; etc, etc.\u00a0 I am sure we listed every item in the manager\u2019s handbook. We were really proud of ourselves for we thought we had covered every conceivable management clich\u00e9 and used all of the buzzwords.\u00a0 We were all surprised when the instructor said, \u201cYou are all wrong. \u201c\u00a0 \u201cYour most important job is to make your boss happy, within legal limits.\u201d\u00a0 By the end of the course he convinced me that he was right, but to my detriment I never completely mastered it.<\/p>\n
If you were ever lucky enough to work for a boss you liked, you know how much more productive and happy it makes you. Unfortunately the converse is also true. The more difficult your boss is to get along with, the worse the job environment. In my opinion, there are very few people who actually like their bosses, but you cannot always tell by looking.\u00a0 The smart move is not to trash your boss, especially to coworkers.\u00a0 What you say more often than not gets back to your boss.\u00a0 My advice for the water cooler roast is to listen, maybe makes a few non-committal gestures, but don\u2019t say anything negative.\u00a0 If you must say something, statements such as \u201cYou may have a point\u201d or \u201cI have heard others say that\u201d, keep you in the loop, but out of trouble.\u00a0 I know a guy who is a master at repeating what others said while distancing himself from any responsibility.\u00a0 I don\u2019t recommend it, but if you have to say something, try to phase it as someone else\u2019s opinion.\u00a0 Statements such as \u201cI may not agree, but Joan said the boss really does not know what he is doing.\u201d\u00a0 At least there is some distance between you and the negativity.\u00a0 Again the best approach is to either say something positive or say nothing at all.\u00a0 Watch when coworkers ask for agreement on their negative opinions, these are often traps.\u00a0 A shrug of the shoulders may be a good defensive response.<\/p>\n
Although you feel like the victim, and probably are, a difficult boss is your problem not theirs.\u00a0 The odds against winning a war with a manager are slim to none. That only leaves a couple of choices, change your attitude or endure it.\u00a0 As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet \u201cThere is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.\u201d <\/strong>If you can change your attitude you can eliminate a lot of the stress associated with a bad boss.\u00a0 (Easier said than done) \u00a0\u00a0One thing I observed is people who act like they have a good relationship with their boss are better off than those who appear unhappy.\u00a0 The military spends a great deal of time training recruits to take orders without showing negative emotion.\u00a0 It takes practice and discipline but it can be done.\u00a0 I know people who are masters at it.\u00a0 \u201cHappy to do it sir\u201d is their motto, while inside they may feel differently.<\/p>\n