Marci Alboher (from Yahoo’s Shine series) recently interviewed the authors of a new book, Working for You isnt Working for Me. The writers, Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, have some interesting insights on how to not only identify and categorize a bad boss, but also to deal with them.
Click here to read the whole interview.
They maintain that it’s possible to grow personally and professionally under a bad boss’s reign. But they also assert that the only way to survive a truly horrible boss is to prepare an exit strategy.
Q: Is it possible to do good work and have a really good experience of work under a really bad boss?
KE – No, not really. If your boss is truly bad: micro-manages you, undermines your efforts, lies, changes direction all the time or only finds your flaws, your experience at work is not going to be good. It’s very difficult to feel successful without the support of your boss.
KC – You can, however, find ways to manage the relationship so that it doesn’t spoil your day and won’t block your career. Instead of focusing your attention on how miserable it is to work for this person, we encourage people to keep building their skills and expanding their networks outside of work. By creating options, you’ll feel less trapped.
You might feel that it’s risky to rock the boat in an economy like this. And, although I do believe there are bad bosses out there, it’s always important to explore your own contribution to difficult situations. After all, we can never change others — only ourselves, and very few people are “all good” or “all bad” in any situation.
Here are some of the questions I might ask a client who was complaining about having a bad boss.
- What are your beliefs and expectations of people in authority? Are you too trusting? Too suspicious?
- How well do you work with a team?
- How do you react when you have to function under rules and regulations that are set by someone else?
- Do you intentionally or unintentionally sabotage your boss’s projects and ideas? If so, why?
- Is your boss a bad leader, or are you a bad follower, or both?
- Are there things you can do to improve your relationship and your department’s productivity that will help you feel job satisfaction, even if you don’t get recognition for it?
- How do you respond to criticism and suggestions? Do you have a tendency to take things too personally?
- What are your options? What can you do today that will increase the chances of a better opportunity tomorrow?
In our current economic climate, stress at work can be a major contributor to personal and family frustrations. What can you do today to proactively improve your work life?
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