HEALTH CORNER
Dealing With
a Difficult Boss
In an ideal world, we would all have
fantastic managers—bosses who
helped us succeed, who made us
feel valued, and who were just all-
round great people. he or she really cares about how
long your lunch break takes; he
or she actually cares about how it
looks to other employees and their
superiors.”
Try one or more of these tips to find
some common ground with your
boss—or at least stay sane until you
find a new gig. Don’t Let It Affect Your Work
Make Sure You’re Dealing With A
Bad Boss
Before trying to fix your bad boss,
make sure you really are dealing
with one. Is there a reason for his/
her behaviour, or are you being too
hard on him/her?
“Observe your boss for a few days
and try to notice how many things
he or she does well versus poorly.
When he or she is doing something
‘bad’, try to imagine the most
forgiving reason why it could have
occurred. Is it truly his or her fault,
or could it be something out of their
control?”
Identify Your Boss’ Motivation
Understanding why your boss
does or cares about certain things
can give you insight into his/her
management style.
No matter how bad your boss’
behaviour, avoid letting it affect
your work. You want to stay on
good terms with other leaders in the
company (and keep your job!).
Stay One Step Ahead
Especially when you’re dealing with
a micromanager, head off your boss’
requests by anticipating them and
getting things done before they
come to you.
“…a great start to halting
micromanagement in its tracks is
to anticipate the tasks that your
manager expects and get them
done well ahead of time. If you
reply, ‘I actually already left a draft
of the schedule on your desk for
your review’ enough times, you’ll
minimize the need for his or her
reminders. He or she will realize that
you have your responsibilities on
track—and that they doesn’t need to
watch your every move.”
Set Boundaries
“...if the rules are totally out of
control, try to figure out your boss’
motivation. Maybe it’s not that
Working with someone who seems
to have no boundaries means that
you have to go ahead and set them.
76 SL-YOU | It’s All About Business
“One of the challenges of unlikable
people is that they come with
equally unlikable behaviour—and it’s
important to learn how to distance
yourself from that behaviour. As
Robert Frost said, “Good fences
make good neighbours.”
Stop Assuming They Know
Everything
Just because someone has a
managerial title doesn’t mean that
they have all the right answers all
the time.
“I realized then that, just because
someone is in a position of
authority, doesn’t mean he or she
knows everything. From that point
forward, I stopped assuming the
title ‘Manager’ was equivalent to ‘all-
knowing’.”
Identify Triggers
If your boss has anger management
problems, identify what triggers
his or her meltdowns and be extra
militant about avoiding those.
“For example, if your editor flips
when you misspell a source’s name,
be sure to double and triple-check
your notes. And if your boss starts
foaming at the mouth if you arrive
a moment after 8:00 a.m., plan to
get there at 7:45 a.m. Every. Single.
Day.”
www.slyoumag.com | September-October 2019