Skip to content

“The Boss Is A Jerk”

38418680_sHow many times have you heard that? How many times have you thought that? It would be completely hard to believe that someone has never heard or thought this at one time or another.  When you read workplace survey’s, it is the number one cause of stress or leaving the job.

Is it always the boss? Sometimes it is the employee complaining. Maybe it is just the overall situation and everyone contributes to the “jerk” feeling.

What to do? I have a couple of ideas to help..

Time to toughen up the old skin… Are we taking what is being said a little to personal? When the boss has a personality that you just don’t like, does not mean that he/she is actually not doing their job. Maybe it is you, that is taking the words and actions personal. When I lived in New York, the weather can be difficult. When it snows or hails, what do you do? You make sure to have a thick warm coat on. At work, when you think the boss is being a jerk – thicken up your skin. When you think the boss is going off the rails, keep it as he/she is up to it again. It is them, not you!

Not everyone has to be liked… Speaking from the boss side, I have had some folks that just want to be liked, by everyone. It is okay not to have everyone like you. You probably have plenty of folks that do! Work is not like the rest of your life.

Set boundaries… This one somewhat difficult. It takes setting up a relationship with the boss. You have to take the time to discuss what you think is happening when the boss says stuff. Ask the boss what they meant? Discuss how you took that message or action. Ask if you can call them on it in the future. Not an easy task, but one that can really change the dynamic of the relationship. I had an employee do this with me and I was unaware of how my words/actions were being received. I did not mean it that way. Helped me to make sure I was doing a better job getting through to all of my team.

Silence is a good thing… When you have tried the setting of boundaries and given time for it to work and it just hasn’t worked… Silence is your next approach. Most people want to “work it out,” but silence is golden. You don’t have to do anything but your job and do it well. If forced into that conversation – make sure you prepare one or two things you want to stress. Just don’t dump. Have examples of when you discussed in the past and what did not happen. Keep it all about the work!

If all fails, maybe it is time to leave… If you are not happy and nothing changes, maybe it is time to change. Just answer yourself, “is the situation truly worth it?” If no, then it is time to work on what is next!

Image via – Copyright: zhitkov / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Published inNew To Management

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: