Ways to handle tricky boss
Posted on 30 April,2021 in Questions From followers
Starting this post with a caveat - Please maintain a practical mindset reading this post. Avoid bookish principles.
Are you lucky enough to have a boss who wants YOU to be successful? Or is your boss like a baby who screams every half an hour? There can be several issues at the workplace – career stagnation, unsuitable environment, lack of skill, manager/boss issue, harassment, bad policies etc.
In this post, I will discuss boss issues in specific. Not saying there is no good boss.
Wherever we go we will find toxic people around, there’s no escaping this fact which means we cannot complain all the time about people. We need to work on something or someone who is in our control – us. Things can get better to a great extent if we just change our ways a little. So what can we do if we land a bad boss.
I detest saying this, but one needs to understand that they cannot win against their boss and this is one fundamental rule that I want to make clear now. Maintaining a symbiosis relationship as much as possible is the remedy. Symbiosis relationship is give and take relationship, you do something valuable for others and they do it for you which turns to be beneficial for all.
By my experience I have seen major 3 types of bosses.
- Micro Managers
Have you ever felt that your manager is paying attention to how much time you are spending in the cafeteria, how many times you go out from your bay area, or checks on you for some work multiple times before the deadline etc.? If yes, then you are being micromanaged. There can be 2 reasons for this: either you are unable to do your work properly and he has to be more vigilant because of his past experiences or the second reason can be that he is control freak and cannot be at peace thinking that subordinates can do the work hence give lectures without any concrete reasons, criticizes you often and notices your movements.
How to work with micromanagers:
Reason 1 is very much within employees’ boundaries and can be corrected by employees. Once your manager gets that trust in you and in your work, micro management will stop. Reason 2 is serious. If you have landed up in a micromanager’s team voice your thoughts in the 360o feedback surveys, feedbacks for managers etc. wherever there’s an option to maintain anonymity. I will personally suggest not to talk directly with HR or to boss’s boss in this scenario. At many places and in many books people suggest reaching out to HR etc. with the issue against your manager but in practice that never works, I have only witnessed and heard that the employee himself had to bear the consequences if they reached out directly. You can tell me if you do not agree and we can discuss.
If there is no respite after you did whatever you could do you can move to another team or organization altogether.
- Biased managers
Many managers practice favoritism. Favoritism means when one sets personal preference towards someone/something at the expense of others. In simple words others suffer due to this preferential treatment. Managers can pick their favorites based on gender, cast, hometown, language, even there can be neutral preferences. There are 2 scenarios – either you are suffering because someone else in the team is getting preference or a second scenario where you are getting preference over others. Favoritism is bad for everyone as a team, it can be demotivating and can give the feeling of purposelessness.
How to work with biased managers:
If you are in Scenario 1 the only way you can escape this is by focusing on your work. It may not be the case always that your manager giving preference to someone is harming you, it can be really disturbing, of course, depending how much you get affected by other’s behaviors. But if your promotions, appreciation is not impacted and you are getting your share of everything no need to go overboard and do anything. Watch this Gaur Gopal Das video . We cannot be everyone’s favorites all the time. In case the biasness demonstrated by the manager is proving to be unjust for you, discuss this with HR. While discussion keep in mind to balance the story between favored employee and the manager. Now, if you stand in scenario 2 where you are favored, you do not need to do much. In the real world employees will misuse this and will try to scale up in the ladder but if you believe in Karma (I do) I suggest trying to keep a safe distance with your manager and more importantly connect with other team members frequently. Everything is temporary and you cannot have the same manager. Act keeping that in mind. Focus on skill building and love your work so you don’t get trapped in favors.
- Insecure/untalented managers
This is the most helpless category I feel. Subordinates of insecure managers suffer a great deal. If you have ever seen a manager who never shares any constructive and concrete feedback but questions you constantly you know what I mean. I remember, sales numbers were shrinking in an organization where one of my close friend worked and his manager was unable to draw strategies or business continuity plans presentable to top leadership. His boss constantly questioned his subordinates capabilities and pressured them to get some results which was breeding anger and anxiety in the team. Situation escalated over a few months and my friend decided to discuss it openly. I will tell you what happened after the discussion in a while. But if your manager is questioning your skills and they themselves are not able to produce results it is not a good manager to work with.
How to work with insecure/untalented managers
Like I said, this is the most helpless category. There isn’t really anything you can do to satisfy your manager's demands because the issue lies with them. It is the boss who needs to gather knowledge and bring the sense in the team instead of criticizing employees. You know what happened after my friend discussed this with his boss and boss’s boss? He had to leave the organization. I have heard many such incidents. Best that can be done in this scenario is move to a different team or out of the organization if you do not really wish to butter your boss. Luckily I have always been in good hands in terms of boss/managers but I know this may not be true for all out there hence few takeaways that I can share to to fight the situation:
- Do not try to outsmart your boss but stay one step ahead in your mind
- Understand where your boss is coming from. The source of his thoughts
- Take part in 360o feedback and share genuine feedback
- Always be connected with your peers tightly
- Set boundaries for yourself at work
This was my share of knowledge, feel free to share yours in the comment section below or DM me on my Instagram account.
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