3 Bad Bosses (And How To Deal With Them)

To be a good boss takes time, patience and a devotion to helping others succeed. It’s incredibly hard to be a good boss (I’m still working on it).

On the other hand, it’s quite easy to be a bad one. Dealing with them can be an art form, but a necessary skill in order to survive and thrive in the workplace. Here are some tricks I picked up along my travels on the Bad Boss Highway.

#1. Old Yeller: Some people in positions of power believe it’s vital to be feared in order to maintain control. And the best way to illicit that fear is to yell. This always has the opposite desired outcome. My unscientific calculation working for a yeller boss finds that for every minute of screaming, you lose at least one hour of productivity from the person you yelled at (that’s 30 minutes of bitching to a co-worker, for a total of an hour).

How To Deal: Yellers often aren’t really yelling at what they’re mad at. There’s usually something else there, so the first step is to try and not take it personally. Second, never yell back–you’ll never win and you’ll only reinforce that bad behavior. I deal with yellers the way I deal with children having a fit. Let them finish their rant with zero engagement. Listen to what they’re saying, but don’t respond. When the yeller has calmed down is the time to have a conversation about correcting whatever caused the yelling in the first place. Stick only to the facts, and not to the emotion of the argument. Once you’ve got the boss squarely back on track to focusing on work and not on the temper tantrum, make sure you address the incident calmly and coolly. “I’m glad we cleared that up. For future, I must insist that you not yell at me.” That’s all that needs to be said–you don’t need any excuses to not want to be yelled at. You also must address the behavior. Old Yeller knows what he/she is doing and knows that if you let him/her get away with it, they’re likely to continue.

#2. Check Please!: The Check Please! bad boss has checked out. There is little involvement beyond an order. And while it can be freeing to have no oversight, you’re very likely to run into issues with a Check Please! boss (mainly that their checking out is often combined with a belief that you can read their mind).

How to Deal: Since your boss won’t do it, it’s on you to manage up. Set up a regular check-in (provide a clear agenda before hand) to start off your week. Follow-up the week with a recap of progress over email. With a checked out boss, you need to put things in writing. It will inevitably come back to bite you on the tush if you leave things to conversations.

#3: Helicopter Boss: Much like a Helicopter Parent, a Helicopter Boss is constantly hovering. Most of this behavior is predicated on the fear that you’ll mess up.

How to Deal: Much like a Check Please! boss, you’ll need to do a lot of managing up with a Helicopter Boss in order to quell their fear. Set clear boundaries on the tasks you’ll be doing and how and when you’ll be documenting your progress. Inevitably, a Helicopter Boss will go outside those boundaries and check-in with you constantly. Your job is to gently remind them of what you agreed upon before hand. “Here’s where I am with the project. Happy to provide more detail at week’s end for my weekly progress report. If you need it sooner, please let me know!”

As long as there are offices and humans working in them, you’re likely to encounter many different types of bad bosses. The good thing about having a bad boss is that you learn how not to be one (and you see how counterintuitive bad bossing is to progress). So take your time with a bad boss in stride. You’ll likely learn a thing or two from them that will help you be a better boss when it’s your time!

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