Do you have a boss who is hard to deal with? Perhaps there are days when you ignore that elephant in the room and pretend that your job is great despite the tension, and then other days when you are two seconds away from packing your things and leaving for good. Poor management choices can lead to disgruntled employees, and it’s easy to join the masses and get all worked up about the current drama. However, in the long run, you will more than likely benefit from holding your tongue and closely considering that relationship that you have with your boss. He or she can be very influential in the remainder of your career, for better or for worse.
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the challenge of a difficult boss is not something unique to your job and workplace. Maybe you have had a lot of great experiences through the years and determined that management always delivered a solid mentor relationship or friendly conversation outside of the office, but, in your current job, that expectation has been altered. You realize that this boss is quite different than your former boss, and, therefore, it’s going to take a lot more out of you on a daily basis when it comes to pursuing a relationship and maintaining a healthy line of communication.
Although the universal business model has the boss at the top of the pyramid as the leader and developer and encourager for his or her tribe, that model is not always on point. Many companies operate, successfully even, with a chain of command that is far from perfect but dysfunctionally functional. The boss does the job and does it well when it comes to maintaining a solid profit and delivering a consistent product. The daily grind and long list of tasks may not always be a walk in the park for each company employee, but the salary is spot on and the work is intriguing and challenging.
For that reason, the employee must take a step back and assess the situation with wisdom and character. If this job is fulfilling and challenging and helpful in developing your craft, then it sounds like the best fit for you. If you are struggling to build a relationship with your boss, then that can definitely be a legitimate drawback. Nothing sucks the life out of your day and gives you a bad attitude quite like a bad attitude from another, and, then, we are likely to take that bad day at work home with us and unleash our emotions on those we love the most. Therefore, the negative cycle needs to be put to rest, and only you can be responsible for making that change happen.
Unfortunately, your boss is still your authority, and you cannot force any change upon another person. However, you can stop to recognize how important it is to your career and your job satisfaction to have a better, even pleasant, relationship with your superior, so why not choose today to make that happen? Make it a point to get to know your boss on a deeper level and try to determine what it is that makes he or she tick, what it is that is going on in or out of the office that makes for a good day or a bad day on their part. You may find that the bad attitude stems from personal problems that are being brought into work with them, or you may discover that your boss has a boss of their own, which may be a source of intense pressure.
Despite the root of the problem, the solution is to move forward with better communication and perspective. No one wants to walk into an office every day surrounded by people that make them cringe. You have the power to be the source of change instead of feeding the same old cycle of miserable co-existence. Your relationship with your boss has the potential to change the course of your career and the passion for what you do, so make it count!
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