6 Ways to Adjusting to a Horrible Boss

  1. Understand what makes your boss tick. If you can understand what sets him or her off, you may be able to avoid his or her tirades. This may or may not be easy, but it is worth a shot if you could sit across from your boss and query him or her about their pet peeves.
  2. Figure out how to stroke your boss’s ego. Even false praise may keep you out of your boss’s dog house. If your boss is a huge Dallas Cowboy fan, engage him or her about professional football. In this way, you may be able to channel your boss’s aggression and grumpiness into a topic other than how lousy your boss thinks you are doing.
  3. Network within the company. Try schmoozing with other department heads or HR personnel. You’d be surprised to learn that these employees not only like you, but they may possibly help you with your turmoil with your boss.
  4. Recognize the difference between bullying and tough criticism. Are you a tad bit overemotional or sensitive? Approaching the situation in a dispassionate manner and only focusing on the Xs and Os may prevent upsetting feelings after dealing with your boss.
  5. Cut your losses and start looking for another position either within the company or outside of it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, the boss/employee relationship fails. However, please do not take this as your own personal failure because it is not.
  6. File a complaint with your company’s EEO officer or with an outside agency like the EEOC when all else fails. It is important to note: Pay an attorney to file the workplace violation charge. Filing the charge yourself may present nightmares because you need to limit the scope of the investigation to your favor.

One thought on “6 Ways to Adjusting to a Horrible Boss”

  1. Learning how to get along and work with difficult people, particularly when they are in a position of authority over you is a critical life skill we should all be taught early in our careers. Most of us have to learn the hard way! In particular, I liked the advice you gave about looking in the mirror first. We need to learn to differentiate between honest criticism and unhealthy attacks. Someone famous once said we learn more from our enemies than our friends. I have learned a lot about myself and become a better person by learning some of the skills you talk about. Sometimes you need to take the high road and move on, other times that person needs to be held accountable and stopped from hurting others. It’s a tough call to make sometimes – you have to be ready to accept the fallout.

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