Some bosses are too much

At some stage in almost every career, a worker will have to cope with a difficult boss.

Incompetent and difficult supervisors and managers create a great deal of stress and frustration at workplaces. Obviously, “difficult” comes in all shapes and sizes and includes bosses who are artful dodgers, bosses who demean, bosses who are always right, and bosses who cling to power.

Inept individuals sometimes end up high in the hierarchy of power. Such bosses very often do not realise that their actions can cause a lot of anxiety among workers and may even lead to severe health problems among subordinates if left unchecked. Bottled up emotions among employees can cause migraines, high blood pressure and even heart attacks.

One of the most detrimental effects of working for a difficult boss is that he or she stifles creativity. Subordinates become frustrated if their contributions are not valued.

If ideas and opinions put forward by workers are frequently brushed off then it takes a toll on their creative juices. Employees will then only put in the necessary and not their best.

Most bosses do not realise that they are tinkering with productivity when they are obstinate.

The list of undesirable behaviours is probably endless but at least includes things like:

• Wandering the hallways from 4:30 pm to make sure no one leaves work before 5;
• Giving assignments but then micro-managing them to death;
• Having too much involvement in everyone’s business; and
• Never giving anyone a good performance review.

Having bosses with these behaviours dotted around so many companies, there should be little surprise that many organisations have retention problems.

For coping with a difficult boss, one of the most important things is to have faith in oneself.

Difficult bosses rarely give feedback. When they do, it's negative bordering on castigating. You walk away feeling incompetent. In this case you've got no choice, you've got to believe in yourself.

Many difficult bosses have ego problems. They are domineering, derisive toward subordinates, and loners who do it all themselves. Beneath the surface, though, many of them are insecure. Because of their insecurity, they put others down, and always assert control. They want to know all the details, micro-manage every decision their subordinates make and then complain about assignments taking too long.

Employees need to assess their own strengths and weaknesses along with soliciting input from others. Once a complete personal audit is done, it can be used for building on strengths and taking definitive steps for improving on weaknesses.

In at least some cases, if you are troubled by a difficult boss, it would be well worthwhile meeting with a job coach, who can help you determine whether your work style and/or communication skills are contributing to the problem. Such an independent outsider can often do much more to help the situation. An experienced job coach could work with you and help improve matters.

Apart from trying to improve the situation, a smart move is to keep a detailed written record of any problematic interactions. When did it happen? Where were you at the time? What did your boss say to you? How did you respond? What happened next? Unfortunately, you may need this information for future reference.  

With a difficult boss, it is also important that you always conduct yourself professionally. These people have a habit of creating problems where they don’t exist. The slightest move out of line by a worker, no matter what the provocation, may be just the ammunition the difficult boss needs for introducing a new regime of draconian rules.

If it gets to the stage where you are cursed at, threatened, physically or sexually harassed, or otherwise being treated abusively, then the difficult boss has gone too far. It’s time for strong action. You need to take your written record of the event to both your company's HR department and your boss's manager.