What You Can Learn From Your Bad Boss

No matter how much we complain about our bad boss, there is much to be learned by working for these types of bosses that will come in handy throughout your career.

Here are four common traits of a bad boss and what you can learn from them.

            Your Boss is a Finger Pointer – he is quick to blame and whine whenever something goes wrong. Lesson: Become a problem solver. You will be more valuable to your company, learn to think on your feet and upper management will quickly realize that you are the go-to person (not your boss) when there is a jam - and on the fast track to a promotion.

            Your Boss Loves to Criticize – criticizing others takes the focus off the incompetent behavior of your bad boss. Lesson: when your boss criticizes you, don't get defensive. Figure out how to do your job better. Companies value stand-up employees who don't wimp out at the least bit of disapproval and who are eager find new ways to perform with excellence.

            Your Boss Wants to Be King, Not a Team Player – insecure bosses (which are just about all bad bosses) want to grab the spotlight when it comes to company successes. Lesson: nowadays, more work is done in teams so being a good team player is essential to get the job done. A good team player, unlike a narcissistic boss, is a good listener and is flexible in considering how to get things done especially with ideas other than their own. Team players come with the attitude "how can I contribute to help make my team a success?"

            Your Boss is Lazy – lazy bosses expect their workers to keep up on the latest technology and procedures while they happily go about their business firmly stuck in the 20^th Century. Lesson: invest time and energy into improving your skill set and expanding your knowledge of your job and the company. Even if that means signing up for classes during your off hours, developing your talents will make your increasingly valuable to your company or to a future employer.

          

What To Do When Your Boss Plays Favorites

          You work hard, play by the rules, and expect to be rewarded accordingly, but when you have a boss who plays favorites (and you are on the outside), work can be a frustrating ordeal. There are ways to get beyond the favoritism shown by your bad boss and still find career success. 

           A favoritism boss is one of the most insecure types of bosses around. Their secret fear is that they are not good enough—for their job, as a person, as a boss. That means their biggest desire is to be admired by everyone, everywhere, all of the time. Since that’s never going to happen, favoritism bosses settle for those chosen few who are willing to fawn over them.

            Employees who find themselves outside of their bosses’ inner circle can give the boss the ego strokes they desire without selling out.  Make him or her feel important. You can genuinely do this by first dropping the ‘poor me’ grumblings to other employees who are also outsiders. Instead, set up a quick meeting with your boss to ask if your work is meeting his expectations. Ask for suggestions for improvement. Write everything down. You’ll be stroking your favoritism boss’s needy ego in a non-brown-nosing way. When done, thank your boss. Showing appreciation is another way of communicating that you value his opinion—just what a favoritism boss needs.

            Check in with the boss regularly, reporting on how you took his suggestions to heart and always being grateful for input. Let your boss know he is making a difference in your work. In a sense, you’re turning your boss into a mentor. By elevating your boss to this level, you are not only making him feel good about himself, you are making yourself increasingly important in his eyes. That’s a much better road to career advancement than grousing and gossiping about him and his favorites around the water cooler.

            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.

With a Horrible Boss, Your Attitude is Everything

The release of "Horrible Bosses 2" on November 26 is a reminder that horrible bosses are still pervasive in the workplace and that nothing workers can do or say will make their bad bosses change their lousy attitude or behavior. In the real work world, it is our attitude that counts the most when it comes to keeping our sanity and being successful at work.

If you hope that your horrible boss is going to suddenly change his attitude and start treating everyone fairly and appropriately, you’ll be constantly disappointed and frustrated. Instead, it’s your own attitude that needs to change. Only when you look at your boss and your circumstances differently can you get past all the negativity and on to advancing your career.

Here are attitude adjustment suggestions to help turn things around.

 --Drop the “poor me” attitude and step up to the plate. Be there for your co-workers, help and support all of them, including the boss’s “favorites.”

--Look for solutions rather than whining about problems.

--Believe in yourself, in your abilities, in your skills and talents no matter what your bad boss says. Have faith that you can do what the job requires.

--Take the initiative. When you see an opportunity to act or contribute, do so. Offer ideas and suggestions for how to do things better.

--Always do your work well. Apply yourself to the task at hand and get it done properly.

--Do a good job because it’s satisfying to you. You won’t get an acknowledgement of good work from you bad boss so it has to come from within.

Now use this new attitude to get what you want from your bad boss. One of a bad boss’s greatest fears is that people will find out that he’s terrible at what he does. Make him look competent. Your problem-solving attitude will bail him out of mess after mess. He’ll take all the credit for your good work, which is frustrating, but he’ll also lean on you more because you’ve become valuable to him. You can ask for—and get—resources, bonuses and the support your co-workers only dream of. Not only that, but you’ll be building on your experiences and successes for the time when your boss eventually leaves or there is an opportunity to move to a better position within the company or another job opens up elsewhere.

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.