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Pretty easy to spot although not to deal with. A boss on a power-trip tends to:
My Boss is Passive-Aggressive A passive-aggressive supervisor may be the toughest boss to deal with. He may present as a great person—easy-going, a people-pleaser, even. Except that you’re never quite sure where you stand with him. It’s rather like trying to catch a cloud. Once you think you have your arms around it, it kind of disappears. What is passive-aggressive? A passive-aggressive boss is likely to: Be unclear on what he wants Keep information you need to himself Keep reminding you of errors you made eons ago Imply criticism but deny it when asked to clarify What it looks like Tony (boss): I noticed you took off yesterday afternoon. You: Yes, I thought you said it was okay. Tony: But I really needed to talk to you. You: Sorry. But if you texted me, I could have gotten back to you. Tony: No, it was more of a discussion than a text. You: So, maybe it wasn’t a good afternoon to be out of the office. Tony: No, no, it’s fine. We all need down time, right? What to do Clearly, it isn’t fine but you’ll never get him to admit it. Tony possibly didn’t want to give you that…
An under-performing boss can hurt your career. There are some things only your boss can do. She is the link between you and the rest of the company. She can damage your area’s reputation by making unwise decisions which in turn leads to less money and fewer staff (i.e. your job!)
If the world were fair, you’d never have a jerk boss. They would all be evenhanded, encourage their staff to their full potential, and not be working out personal issues on the job. Right. Every once in a while, you get a great one. If you do, they are gold. Hang in there as long as you can and don’t take your luck for granted.
Are You Being Taken for Granted on the Job? In previous posts, you actually had it good when your boss valued you too much to let you go. You get the same outcome but none of the kudos if it is taken for granted you will do your job well. Some jobs are easier to take for granted. Examples might be the background organization of a big meeting or convention, production of a regular report, or delivery of a well-established program. Here, obviously, fighting fires is considered failure. Other jobs seem to consist largely of putting out fires. People in them are more likely to be hailed as company heroes but frankly, even a job like that can fall into this category if the incumbent tries hard enough. How do you know if you’re being taken for granted? It’s mostly a feeling but here are some cues: A proposal impacts your area but nobody consults on whether it will cause you glitches. Your work problems are considered trivial (e.g. the sound system isn’t up to the size of the room). Your evaluations emphasize “does a good job; delivers what is required” and not “exciting new project successfully delivered” or “huge…