Frances Horibe's

My Boss Thinks He’s Napoleon What is a Napoleon complex? Pretty easy to spot although not to deal with. A Napoleon boss tends to: Take credit for others’ work Uses ‘I’ a lot not ‘we’ Blames others for his failures Is never wrong Makes unreasonable demands Is a control freak Spends more time brownnosing the big bosses than on his job What it looks like Lisa (boss): You made me look bad in front of the VP! The prototype burned out before we even got started. You: But I told you we needed to rewire— Lisa: Don’t give me that. You set me up! You: I didn’t. I told you that it wouldn’t work— Lisa: Yeah sure, try to cover your ass now. Well, I’m not wearing this—I made sure everyone knew whose fault it was. You: But Lisa, if we had put in— What to do You might as well of saved your breath. Lisa has to find someone to blame. Let’s do over the conversation. An example Lisa: You made me look bad in front of the VP! The prototype burned out before we even got started. DO NOT get defensive. She knows you warned her. You: Oh,…

My Boss is Underperforming An underperforming 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!) What is underperforming? An underperforming boss: Takes a long time to make decisions Changes her mind often Can’t follow technical arguments well Can’t get money for projects or has her budget cut Losses work to other managers Rarely meets with her boss or meets all the time What under-performing looks like You: Lisa, I was just talking to Grant. He says that he’s been assigned the Parkinson project. But I’ve already started it. Lisa, boss: He made some good points. I think he’s probably the best for it. You: But I did a similar project in my last job. And I spent last week mapping out the strategy for this one. Lisa: Oh, I’d forgotten that. And you’ve spent all that time? You: I’m ready to roll it out. Lisa: Oh, well then, maybe you should continue. Makes banging your head against a wall seem…

Pretty easy to spot although not to deal with. A boss on a power-trip tends to: