How to deal with an irritating boss in five practical steps

It’s a given. Most of us dread Mondays. It’s the first day of the week when we have to go to work and deal with all the pressure we left behind pre-weekend. What pressure, really? Is it the workload, the deadlines, the plethora of emails or the boss?

Let’s be frank, most times it’s the boss. That man or woman who makes the office hotter than hell and whom you sometimes hope to be gone (dead, incapacitated or fired) when you step into the office every other morning. A certain study even proves that people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.

If this is your daily work experience and your boss is not looking to let up, then here are some ways we think you can deal with the situation without losing your job, derailing your career or ending up a murderer.

  1. Just get your job done: It’s no use trying to get back at a bad boss by avoiding your own work. That one boss is certainly not the only leader in your organisation and your plight regardless, the others are watching. So help yourself, your career and send the right message by doing your job and being adept at it. Understand that you’re in your job for a purpose that’s beyond your boss, so do not lose sight of that purpose. Letting your job and the quality of your output suffer because of a bad boss amounts to you handing him or her the opportunity to kick you out of the company.
  2. Build your self-confidence: Now herein lies the blessing in disguise. If it’s in your boss’ character to yell, scream the building down, judge or criticise you especially in the presence of other colleagues, then rather than cower, keep your head high. Ride on the situation and turn it around to build yourself. Of course it won’t happen in one day, so you need to practice how to stand tall and over time, you will find yourself exuding positive energy, such that will send your boss seeking a new target.
  3. Speak up: Your bad boss is just boss, not almighty. He surely doesn’t know everything and is prone to making mistakes too. So do NOT be afraid to speak up when he’s wrong. Your boss will never know how you feel about anything until you say it and speaking up politely, voicing your concerns and airing your grievances may open doors to a level of trust, solutions and a relationship you never expected. You certainly won’t know until you try.
  4. Understand your boss: Attempt to understand why they do what they do or what makes them tick. Take it a step further by putting yourself in their shoes. This will give you the necessary insight into how they work, make decisions and ultimately, what drives them. While you’re at this, you’ll learn their strengths and weaknesses and use this knowledge to better deal with them and match your work ethics to their core values.
  5. Avoid future bad bosses: Okay so you’ve decided to leave your job for a new one. You’ll be completely messed up if you have to face the same situation over again at the new job. So save yourself a lifetime of drama by taking proactive measures of researching the new company, meeting up with an old staff there and asking subtle questions about what you should expect. Learn about your potential boss and his or her management style.

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