In the article “Workplace Woes” by Dr. Ronald E. Riggio, PhD. and published in Psychology Today, he gave four strategies to deal with difficult bosses.
Having a difficult boss who consistently displays undesirable behavior (I hate it when they are so arrogant about their accomplishments when all they do is read and read newspapers, push people to produce results and then get all the fame). In the article, in dealing with difficult bosses, one needs to be PROACTIVE by having an action plan always ready.
You need to anticipate the behavior of your boss and use that action plan to counter all your boss’s bullying. That Boss will be looking for any faults he can throw on you, so make sure you are doing your work right. There should be no room for mistakes.
Be proactive by having a positive mental attitude. Going back to my experience, what I did was to continuously engage myself in positive thinking. I always told myself “my boss is threatened by my competence at work because I am doing so well.” That was my way of motivating myself.
You need to be PREPARED all the time. Since your boss can be unpredictable, you will never know what he wants from you. You need to be updated with the work, and at least have a knowledge about what is going on in the workplace.
You need to be professional at all times even if your boss provokes you. Never give in to a heated argument or give in to your boss’s rants and misdemeanors (although years ago, I succumbed to this and looking back I would just smile; and I told myself never to experience that again). What I usually do is ignore all his words. I make it sure that my emotions don’t get out of control as well. That is why, if I can have a reason to get away from my boss, I need to exit the soonest.
In the article, you have to follow rules on filing a complaint against your boss in your Human Resources Department. However, sad as it may seem, it isn’t the way things are done here in our culture. Employees seldom file a complaint with HR regarding their boss’s behavior. Lest, they just keep it within until they could not take it anymore, and they resign.
Likewise the article said that you have to be persistent in calling out your boss’s bad behavior. Again, in our culture, it is not the ways it is. But my own way of being PERSISTENT is by being always doing my job right.
Nothing can beat that because at the end of the day, it is my performance that still matters. It is not my boss or other else. What truly makes me more than an object of envy of others is my being COMPETENT. And that threatens my ex-boss.
I have to do things that will divert my attention away from the bullying of my boss. So I decided to pursue further studies to make my self busy and not think of my work problems. I have to preoccupy myself with other activities. Go and dine out with friends, continue with my hobbies and past times. Sometimes you have to dance with the beat of the music.
I also think that my boss is going through something terrible that is why he’s acting that way. And that I should be grateful I am not experiencing what he is going through. He might have personal or work related problems and he is unable to deal with the pressures professionally and maturely as possible.
So I told myself I am still lucky, that despite my rank in the ladder, I am still in the right track by having the attitude and right mentality when it comes to pressures and problems, be it personal or work related.
I did not allowed myself to be weakened by my unfavorable circumstances at work. I motivated myself and just go on with life. After all, it is your outlook in whatever you are into that really matters.