Bad Managers - How to deal with them!

Bad Managers! I'm almost tempted to challenge anyone to find someone that hasn't had that experience! The truth of the matter is that we all had at least one, perhaps many, if you are not new to the workplace. But what is even more shocking is that you were or are a bad manager in someone's eyes. Not because you are, but because we are often provided this label in a subjective manner, not objectively. So, before you label your Boss as a "Bad Manager" make sure that you are saying so with objective support and that it's not only your emotions speaking!

Are you convinced that you have a bad manager?

Yes? and you are certain that you think critically on the matter! Still yes! Alright, so let's focus this article on helping those that are unfortunate to have one of the not so good managers in today's world.

Understand the situation with your emotions; solve it with your logic!

Just before we start though,if you are still emotional just thinking about it, I would recommend that you bring yourself into a more relaxed and objective mental state prior to reading the rest of this article and definitely prior to posing any inappropriate actions. One of the great way's to do that is to use that negative energy as a source of motivation and write down or record your feelings and their precise sources.

Despite the technology you use, the objective remains the same, to be able to re-construct what you were originally thinking because those thoughts were in their purest form even though they might be irrational, biased or even politically incorrect. Later, when you have returned to your normal state, re-read what you wrote and think about the reasons that generated these feelings and how you could verbalize in an objective and constructive manner to your boss.

Deviate from what you've always done

Once you've finish, take some time to read what you wrote, but put yourself in the perspective of your boss. Do you or can you understand why he or she behaved in the manner that they did? You you have made the same decision if you were the boss? If you couldn't put the dilemma in front of a trusted friend or even a parent, i find that they often see a different perspective and see if they can offer a logical potential explanation for your boss's behaviour. If they did, write it down.

Now its time for you to put your learned social skills to work and think of logical solutions that could resolve the situation and how it's best to communicate them, if you need some advice there read what is feedback. Remember, that you can't present them in a attacking way and thus you should put the emphasis on how you feel and how you think the situation could be resolved. Don't simply point the finger at your boss and make sure that you also compromise in your solution.

Put Your Plan Into Action!

At this point, many will need to give themselves that courage booster! If this sounds like you remember that your boss can't improve his or her behaviors if they don't know that others are negatively affected by them. What ever you do, resist the urge to reduce your cognitive dissonance by changing or altering some of the situational facts....re-read your original thoughts.

Approach your superior and ask him or her when it would be a good time for you and him to have a meeting. Let him know that you would like to discuss some important matters and that you would need to have his or her fullest attention. The objective here is that you don't want them to "squeeze" you in between two meetings or just before they need to leave the office. You need some time to be fully dedicated to the discussion without any interruptions. Thus make sure they know that the items on the agenda are important for you.

Miss understanding is the source of most conflicts!

Now the meeting! To open the discussion you should present the fact that you like working for him or her, but there there are certain behaviours that are making you feel un-happy (State how they make you feel) and that you would like to better understand their perspective. Don't over talk it, just present your perspective and practice active listening, have a communication with your boss, don't let your emotions guide the discussion.

If you are reporting to a bad manager and aren't certain on the proper way to handle the situation professionally and would like some input from others, use our Share Your Thoughts section below. Make sure your questions are detailed enough, so that we can provide you with specific answers.

P.S. If you find that your solution didn't provide you with the desired results, try a different one! Never give up.

Note for bad managers

If you are a manager that can benefit from self-improvement, the solution is simple and all you need to do is to become a better manager is:

1. Seek feedback from your staff; they will let you know what skills should be improved.
2. Implement the feedback;if you cant do it by yourself, get a mentor to help you.

This site offers many articles to help improve our areas of weakness, if you don't find it on our site don't hesitate to ask the question.