Is your boss a jerk? I recently interviewed an employee who said her boss was mean, stressed out, volatile, a swearer and a micromanager who blamed her for almost everything. She asked me the question, “What would you do if that was your boss?” So, before I tell you what I would do, I’m going to be contrarian and tell you what I would not do.
#1: I would not immediately go around her boss, to her boss’s boss or to human resources. If your boss has any clout or credibility in the organization, they are going to launch an investigation and it’s been my experience that, almost always, that doesn’t end up well for you.
#2: I don’t recommend you go head-to-head with your boss telling them what you are going to do or not do or be in defiance of the boss’s goals.
#3: I recommend you do not speak negatively about your boss to others in the organization. I’ll take that one step further.
#4: Don’t write nasty emails about your boss or post negative things about your boss in social media.
#5: I recommend that you don’t tell your boss things like they are stressed out, they are volatile, they are a micro-manager. Any one of those are what I call very general and vague feedback and, almost always, it is not well received.
So, what would I recommend you do?:
Number one is going to surprise you. Ask yourself this question. What if it is me? Almost always, when somebody is incredibly difficult, the counterpart has some role in that process. So, ask yourself. What if it is me and is there anything I could do differently that would help build a relationship with this difficult boss.
#2. I do recommend you go to your boss early on and provide honest, constructive feedback. It could look like this. You know boss, when you raise your voice at me and sometimes throw in a cuss word, it makes me really nervous and really uneasy and in those situations, I don’t do my best work. But, I am here to tell you, if you could communicate to me in a calm manner, I will go to the wall to help you make things happen.
Here’s #3…it’s a fun one. Be patient. Because if your boss is truly a jerk, I am going to guarantee you this. Someone else is going go to go to human resources or your boss’s boss and complain. Now, I’m honest in my communication. I’ve shared my concerns with the boss, but when the formal investigations are lodged, I would rather have that coming from someone else in the organization than from the person who just asked me, what do I do?
#4: Exercise your options. Don’t be a victim. You’ve got options and you’ve got alternatives of what you could do. You could go work in another area of the organization. You could work for another boss. And, yes, if the boss is truly that bad and the organization doesn’t care, you could go find another job.
Here’s my last one. Build your reputation for producing outstanding results. Outstanding results speak many different languages and almost always organizations will go to bat for people who produce significant results.
Do you deserve a great boss? Yes, you do. But when you don’t get a great boss, I want you to exercise your options. I want you to use one of the five strategies and I want you to be in control of what happens next.
