Love Your Job—but Hate Your Boss?
When my editor at U.S. News suggested I write on this topic, I felt as if she had just asked me to clean the garage with the Winnebago still parked inside—I can do it, but don't expect a decent job (in 250 words or less).
Yet employees are being asked to clean their garage (their job) with the Winnebago (bad boss) still inside. It's no wonder "bad boss" is cited as the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs. Doing a good job is hard enough without having such obstacles.
During these tough economic and jobless times, most of us don't have the real option of quitting when we hate our bosses. We need the job.
Here are three things anyone can do in this situation:
1. Write a journal about it. A friend of mine knew a woman dealing with this issue at her job, and his advice to her was to journal what happened whenever her boss upset her. Rereading the entries at a later, less emotional time helped her gain perspective.
2. Analyze your own self. How's your attitude, your own work habits? Can you improve the situation by doing better yourself? As a boss myself, I know I happen to like those employees who do better, more than those who don't. In other words, make your boss love your performance.
3. If you do Nos. 1 and 2, and you still hate the boss, then you have two remaining options—discuss it openly with him (first), then with HR, and/or prepare your exit strategy.
G.L. Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and venture investor/operator/incubator/mentor. Two of his companies have traveled the entire success path from the garage to IPO. Currently, he is chairman of JobDig, and his blog can be found at WhatWouldDadSay.com or at JobDig.com.
Tags: careers | management
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (5) | Print
Reader Comments
My boss sucks too
I completely understand. My boss is very talented, but is over analytical and picks out every little thing that I do, but never compliments me on what I do good for the company.
For example, I just threw an event that was very successful. People are writing on our website about how great it was and I am also receiving cards. I was over budget by $50.00, but I saved $600 on the room rental. There was no way I could have done it for any cheaper, considering there were over 200 people at the concert....
Anyway, I am soooo sick of it. I feel like the next time she does it, I will snap.
I KNOW I am doing a good job, but am not sure how to handle when she does this. Any suggestions? By the way, we are both single and close to 30.
Bad Boss
I have been dealing with a tyrant of a boss for over 2 years now. I have worked for this company 10 years and have had my share of bad bosses with this company and others, but this guy takes the cake. For some reason, he finds pleasure in belittling me and tearing my confidence down in my abilities. He nit picks me to death and nothing I do is ever good enough. This is ironic considering that the overall level of satisfaction amongst my customers is high and also with my colleagues. The statistics also show that I have been improving month after month, but he always has to find something to tear me apart about.
I think companies should not only evaluate a person's ability to do the job but should also evaluate their personality flaws. He knows it destroys me inside every time he calls me in the office to tear me down. He thrives on it. I try so hard to not react the way he wants, but sometimes it is just more than I can bear.
I would love suggestions. I have always loved my job and working with customers and I am good at it, but more and more I am beginning to hate my job because of my boss. I want so badly to quit, but I can't afford to. He is making my professional life a living hell, he knows it and he loves watching me squirm.
I am sick of it! When I try to stand up for myself, he uses it against me. What do I do?
boss' wife is a pest...
I work as an executive assistant for a very senior level executive at a major firm in NYC. I recently advanced into this position and thought it would be a great position to develop new administrative skills. How wrong I was. The boss' wife has nothing better to do than call all day and when she can't speak to her husband, she expects me to chat with her. Now I try to be cordial and offer the "hi, how are you" exchange of chat, but the truth is I could care less about getting to know her or listening to her compalin about her day. I have work to do, phones to answer and meetings to attend. It has become a problem over the past 6 months and I do intend on finding another positon, I am just waiting to find the right one and this is a tough economy to look for another job. When I interviewd for this position it was not disclosed that the wife would be calling all day... I don;t think she realizes how pathetic she is. I think if you are going to marry someone who is a work-a-holic and travels all the time you need to also realize you are going to be alone all the time... the wives are always so curious of the husband's assistant.
advertisement
