How to Deal with a Difficult Boss

You have the boss from hell and you do not know how to cope. Little piece of advice: do not allow their behavior to get to you. They do not expend energy making your life miserable, but you do expend energy by stressing out about it and allowing it to mess with your mind.

Your performance. Dealing with a difficult boss, step number one: Make sure your job performance is flawless. Do not give attitude, do not listen to or make snide comments behind their back, show up on time and leave only after all of the work is completed, be respectful without sucking up, maintain a sense of personal responsibility and accountability, and ignore their outrageous behavior. Seriously, ignore it. Do not take it personally, but allow it to waft over you like a breeze and continue with your work.

Their performance. The main reason why bosses tend to be difficult is that they are having problems with their job or with their family life. Sometimes, this is no longer the case, but it used to be and they have forgotten that life is good and that work does not have to be stressful. Never get involved with their family life, but at the end of the day, you might walk into their office and ask them if there is something that needs to be done or if there is a deadline to meet with which you can help out. Do not be engaging or charming, because this will be interpreted as sucking up. Instead, be a little worried-looking, thoughtful and calm.

Helping your coworkers. Before we go into their work performance, the biggest thing that you can do to help your coworkers is to not engage in office politics or gossip about the boss. Complaining does not release frustration or anger, but rather solidifies it and makes it a more permanently embedded belief within your mind. Do this for your own sake but also the sake of others. Make light, not heavy, excuses for the boss if you find your coworkers stressing out. "Oh, I think she's just having some problems with her teenagers. Don't worry about it." "He's going through a really rough patch. Let's just get our work done and not add to his problems." This way, you are not known as the brown-noser but you are seen as someone who is not even remotely affected by the circumstances.

Now, as for their work ethic, your coworkers may be adding to the stress of your boss or bringing criticism down upon their own heads because of their laziness, complaints and lack of company teamwork. Do not offer suggestions for why they may be getting a bad rap. Do not advise them, even if they are close friends, on how to improve their job performance. If they ask you directly, make a short, light list of things you believe would pull them higher up on the rankings, but do not discuss it with them, choosing instead to act like it never happened and treat them the same as before. If you are doing your job, then you are securing your job, even if they are losing theirs.

Positive attitude. Keeping a bright, positive, pleasant attitude at all times is a must for smoothing over ruffled bosses, coworkers or clients. Act like you are never negatively affected, and soon it will become reality. Do not remove all of your emotions from your repertoire, though. Delight in little office gifts, be exuberant over an approaching vacation, and be encouraging to the hard workers around you.

A difficult boss does not have to be an impossible boss. Over time, you will gain their trust and dependence upon your strong, capable work ethic. Keep it that way, never slacking off. When the time comes for a promotion, you will be the necessary addition to the next level of ranking.

Sources:

http://www.healthyplace.com/anxiety-panic/main/anxiety-at-work-managing-your-boss/menu-id-69/