Hello World! I hope
you are all doing terrific! I’m having a
great week. Things are going great here
at Capstone Search Group and I’m proud to report that I just finished my sixth
full year with the firm. On a side not,
I’m also pushing into my second year writing this blog. Thanks to all of you for your support. I’m also pleased to announce that Capstone is
unveiling a new logo in preparation for our new website that will be rolling
out later this month. Have a look:
Today I’m going to be talking about working with a bad
boss. We’ve all been there. I was talking to a candidate of mine that was
recently let go and we discussed the problems he was having. The candidate had been enjoying a great deal
of success when seemingly out of the blue his boss came in and suggested that
his level of production was sub par and needed to be fixed immediately. My candidate’s first response was shock –
where did this come from? Then he got
angry – no matter how he tried to cover it up it seeped out. Finally, he settled into a sense of malaise –
he just didn’t care anymore. After six
weeks he was let go. Over the course of
a month and a half they had gone from a strong working relationship to an
adversarial one.
How does this happen – how can your boss go from looking like this:
 |
| I realize he is hardly the world's best boss - but hey - coffee mugs don't lie! |
To looking like this:
 |
| What's his catchphrase? You're.... |
I’ll give you a hint.
Shit rolls downhill. I’ll be
honest, in some cases you just ran into bad luck and got a bad boss. It happens.
There are simply horrible people in this world and some of them get into
management. You can’t do anything about
these people short of having three spirits visit them on Christmas Eve. Most bosses that flip a switch and become
hard to work for usually do it for a reason.
They are having pressure put on them from above – everyone answers to
someone – and they are doing their best to save their job. This doesn’t make them a bad person or even
self serving – it just means that they are trying to preserve their own self
interests, much like you are. So, what
can you do to resolve this? Below are
some tips about what you can and can’t do:
1. Do not report the situation to his/her
superiors
Everyone in a tough situation has this naïve fantasy where
they share their problems with their boss with the bosses superior and it ends
in some grand solution or your boss getting fired. This rarely works unless your boss is doing
something illegal and or maybe sexually harassing someone. The problem is that in most cases simply
being an a$$hole is not a fireable offense.
Here are the potential outcomes that can come from doing this:
a) Senior
Management ignores tells you to work it out on your own – this will just make you
mad
b) Senior
Management tells your boss that his people are upset with him – the manager
takes it out on you
c) Senior
Management ignores you completely
d) Senior
Management views you as someone that is complaining and looks to constructively
fire you
e) Senior
Management rides in on a white horse – fires your boss and promotes you
Which one of these seems unlikely?
2. Try talking to your boss
This sounds like a really simple answer but it really can
solve the problem. However, you have to do
this appropriately and in a manner that elicits problem solving. If you’re idea of “talking” about the problem
is to run into his/her office with your hair on fire and tell them how bad you
feel, just start looking for a new job now.
Instead, you need to do the following:
a)Think about the root cause of the problem – look in the
mirror and see where your part in this is – people like people that take
ownership
b)Reach out to your boss and ask to schedule a time to
talk. Don’t beat around the bush with
this. Say something like – “I feel we’re
getting off track here. Can we schedule
a time to sit down and talk about it and get on the same page.”
c)be open minded when you go into the meeting
d) don’t accuse – tell you boss how you feel – use I
messages
e)Ask how the two of you can partner together to make this
work
3. Look in the Mirror
This is the hardest part of the situation. I feel that in many cases management’s
inability to levy good constructive criticism is a barrier to personal
improvement. Try to strip away all the
raw emotion and think about what your manager had to say. Is production really sub par? Even if the root cause is the economy, is
there anything you could do better?
Think about this and remember that sometimes truth can come through
poorly communicated messages.
4. Look for a new job
In some cases this can’t be fixed. The manager might have offended you. The person just might be one of those
horrible people we talked about above.
The reality is that you can only change so much in an organization. You can change your personal actions. You can change a failing business
relationship. However, you can’t change
your manager, you can’t get your manager fired and you probably can’t change
your company culture. If you are in this
position utilize all of the resources necessary and just get out. Life is too short to be miserable. If you need any help, let me know. I might know a good recruiter.
Let me know your thoughts on this one! I can be emailed at sthompson@insurance-csg.com.
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