Frances Horibe's

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…

My Boss is Impossible to Work for If the world were fair, you’d never have an impossible 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. Not all are impossible bosses But for the rest of us, perfect bosses, like perfect people, are few and far between. Which doesn’t mean the rest are jackasses, of course. After all, you’re not perfect either (I hope this is not news to you) and would probably not do a better job. Even if you’re sure that you would. So, generally, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt, if you can. Flawed, yes. Sometimes a little petty. Or inconsiderate. Or bad-tempered. If these are not characteristics but occasional outbreaks, I’d try to treat them as one-offs and focus on whether your supervisor is primarily a good guy with positive intent. But sometimes you can’t because his behavior makes it difficult to do your best work. These are…

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.