Dealing with a Difficult Boss

A difficult boss is a challenge for anyone but there are ways to handle the situation. Your boss may be a micromanager, racist, sexist, a bully or plays favorite or worse all the above. Try the following tips and hopefully they will help you with the situation:

Analyze your actions

Make an honest analysis of your work, has your job performance declined when the “dreadful” boss came into the picture? Have you been slacking? If you have, try re-focusing on the projects at hand, and see if there are any changes in the boss’s behavior.

Make a list of the boss’s bad behavior

Try to keep a journal of all the behaviors that you might think are unethical, unprofessional, or abusive. Just jot down the facts, not your reactions to the events.

Find a mentor

If you love the company but can’t deal with your bad boss, another solution could be to develop a mentoring relationship with another supervisor in another department of the company.

Don’t take it

If your boss has a difficult management style-it doesn’t mean you have to take it, respond with professionalism.
If your boss insults or put you down, respond calmly that putting you down or insulting you doesn’t resolve the problem, and that there is a better way to deal with the situation.
Or if your boss is a micromanaging type that breathes down your neck, try explaining to him that you are uncomfortable when someone is micromanaging you. Most times the person will step back.

Report to HR

A last resort is reporting the bad actions of your boss to Human Resources. This can have either positive or negative reactions. Human Resources would do something about the situation or in the worst-case scenario you could be branded as a complainer and the tension between you and your boss could be higher.

Don’t sacrifice your health

The worst thing that you can do- is do nothing. The reality is problems do not resolve themselves. No job, boss or company is worth losing your health or self-esteem. If you can’t find a way to resolve the issue and your boss will never change their behavior, you should start working your network and begin looking for a new job. Try if possible not to quit before having something lined up.