Do you have a horrible boss?

A good boss is one who promotes growth, makes you feel appreciated, gets the best out of you day in, day out, and is someone you enjoy working with.

Unfortunately, we don’t always get a good boss and may end up with a boss who is difficult to please, enjoys micromanaging, has anger management issues, does not give clear directions or worse, all of the above. Bad bosses tend to lack leadership qualities and will throw his employees under the bus when something goes wrong but will take credit of his employees’ successes when things go right.

The sad truth is that no matter how horrible your boss is, work must go on and you still need to get things done. But don’t worry – you can make it happen. Check out these tips on how to deal with your horrible boss so that work is more tolerable – and can also be enjoyable! (at least until you get a new job if you’ve had enough).

#1 Talk to someone
It doesn’t have to be a therapist or a psychologist; it just has to be someone you can trust in order to get a third-person perspective on the situation. This is to make sure that your feeling of anger/frustration towards your boss is warranted and that you actually do have a horrible boss.

#2 Get to know him better
We aren’t suggesting inviting him out for dinner and getting to know his favourite colours. Working with anyone will undoubtedly have you learning new things about that person every day. Take the time working with your boss to get to know what he expects from you and adapt to his behaviour. Get to know what he doesn’t like and find out how you can work around this.

#3 ‘Is this what you mean?’
To avoid any miscommunication and to ensure you do not poke around any trigger points, you can try confirming things when given instructions by repeating them to your boss and ask if that’s what he means. This is done to ensure you get things right and avoid any unnecessary stress.

#4 Do not try to get back
Getting back at your boss by working slower or taking days off close to important dates will only hinder your growth and progress in the organisation and ultimately your career. Don’t let a horrible boss affect your working experience more than it already has and ask yourself 'will making things even help me achieve my goals?' Probably not.

#5 Talk to them
What better way to resolve a conflict of interests with your boss than to talk it out with him! But with every other situation in life, make sure you read the situation before requesting to talk to them.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash