Stop Your Bad Boss From Spreading Toxic Behavior

 An August 2014 Michigan State University study found that bad bosses’ toxic habits are often mirrored by their employees, which spreads hostility and dysfunction within the workplace. You can help stop the spread of this bad behavior by the way you interact with your bad boss.

When a supervisor creates a hostile atmosphere in the workplace, employees are not able to come up with their best work much less innovative ideas. Just as one bad apple spoils the entire barrel, a bad boss can spoil the entire team.

To stop this spread, workers need to go against their natural responses. We tend to model the behavior of those in front of us. If the boss is modeling bad behavior, then people that report to him allow themselves to show their worst instead of their best. IIf the boss encourages yelling and is always irritable, employees will follow. It’s the ‘kick the dog’ phenomenon.

These behaviors can be changed. Instead of accepting your boss’s hostile attitude, turn it around. See yourself as helping with your boss’ success, which will help advance your own career. Make a conscientious effort to not let your bad boss get to you. If your boss is always blaming others, particularly you, when things go wrong, be his or her problem-solver. Don’t let this insecure finger pointer cause you to start yelling at your colleagues. Stay calm and immediately offer to help. Then follow through. Eventually, your boss will see you as a much-needed ally to make him  or her look good, which is all what most bad bosses want in the first place. The temperature of the workplace will go down.

By stopping the negative behavior at the source, workers will be less on edge and more likely to be their true selves. Most people are essentially good and want to do their best at work. Sometimes, they just get caught up in a negative work culture.

For tips on working with specific bad boss types, go to http://www.noellenelson.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GotABadBoss or at https://twitter.com/GotABadBoss.

Don’t Blame Your Incompetent Boss; Blame The Peter Principle

Workforce surveys are released each year where workers lament over incompetency of their bosses.  It is not necessarily the fault of the boss that he or she is so incompetent so that work suffers and employees grumble. Blame it on the Peter Principle.

            The Peter Principle states that "every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence." It doesn’t matter the size or the industry, it’s a problem that’s found just about everywhere. It then follows that employees who are still in the trenches are the ones most likely to want to do a great job. Hopefully, that’s you.

            Though incompetent bosses may seem out of control, they actually behave in predictable ways. An incompetent boss thinks he knows what he's doing when he doesn't. Incompetent bosses will throw more work your way until you're on overload and then yell when you can't finish assignments on time. They’ll accept a customer's completely unreasonable deadline and have no clue what it takes to meet that deadline—leaving you to save the day. These types of bosses have a fear that their secret—that they're lazy and irresponsible and they desperately need their subordinates to cover for them--will be found out.

            How can you work with an incompetent boss and keep your sanity? 

--Prioritize - When an incompetent boss dumps another emergency on your desk, say something like 'Be glad to handle this. Which of your other requests would you prefer to delegate to someone else?' Make him commit to delegate some of your work before he has a chance to breathe. Your workload will then remain more manageable.

--Clarify Expectations - As soon as the incompetent boss assigns you a piece of work, start taking notes and then go over the notes with him. Even an incompetent boss will not be blind to the fact that your notes, documenting his "here’s what I want" can all too easily be taken upstairs if there is heat later on.

--Check Your Work - Ask your incompetent boss to sign off on your work. At his "Huh?" just smile and tell him how much you appreciate his clarifying things for you. It is an ego stroke that works every time. Once he has given his okay, leave before he can change his mind. Because you have forced him to document his approval of your work, he is less likely to make further changes.

            By following the above guidelines, you’ve made your incompetent boss look competent by forcing him to become more responsible for the work he gives you. You can now do your job with less stress and minimal waste of time, energy and resources. The Peter Principle still applies, but at least your boss’ incompetence will have less of an impact on you.

            For tips on working with specific bad boss types, go to http://www.noellenelson.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GotABadBoss or at https://twitter.com/GotABadBoss.

One In Seven Workers Give Their Boss a "D" or "F" Grade; Bad Communication Cited

According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, one in seven workers would give their boss a "D" or "F" grade when asked to evaluate their boss’ performance. The survey found that workers whose boss interacted with them frequently gave their boss higher grades. Without frequent communication, your boss might as well be a ghost boss

A ghost boss is a boss who barely acknowledges you at work to the point you wonder if he or she even knows your name. You fumble about trying to figure out what your boss expects from you  but he won’t give you any guidance on how to do your job or even what doing a good job would actually mean.

These types of bosses have no business being a boss. They’ve been promoted because they were probably great at doing something that didn’t require managing people. They now have to manage, but their secret desire is to be left alone to work on whatever pet project piques their interest at the moment. Their secret fear is that they’ll be cornered into having to actually interact with people, which they see as a complete waste of their time and talent.

            So how do you work with a ghost boss? It’s useless getting angry, aggravated or belligerent with your ghost boss. It’s equally useless trying to make-nice, attempting to schmooze or engage a ghost boss in some sort of reality-based management discussion. Instead, in a sense, you need to become your own boss.

            Here are steps to become self-sufficient and successful at work despite a ghost boss.

            --Write out how you would describe, in specifics and detail, each of your duties and tasks.

            --Create measurable markers of success for each task, at each stage of its completion or development.

            --Review each point with your ghost boss. Given such clear criteria, he or she may actually weigh in with helpful suggestions. If not, don’t worry, you’ve just cleared your “to-do” list with your ghost boss.

            --Do your almighty best to accomplish what is on your list. Build in whatever you need to help you stay motivated because you will not get praise for your good work from your ghost boss.

            --At the end of each week, show your boss on paper (backed up with an emailed report), the results of your week’s work. As much as a ghost boss may shy away from the face-to-face, face-time is important to reinforce successes.

One of several things will happen if you consistently follow through with all the above. First, you’ll be one of the few in your department or company who can actually get what you need and want from your ghost boss. Second, you may quite inadvertently help your ghost boss learn how to manage. Third, and best of all, someone up the food chain may take notice and you will finally get the chance to move up in the ranks despite your ghost boss.

For tips on working with specific bad boss types, go to http://www.noellenelson.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GotABadBoss or at https://twitter.com/GotABadBoss,