boss

3 Ways to Deal With a Boss You Can't Stand

Bosses are like a box of chocolate, you never know which one you're gonna get. Some bosses are like a dream come true – caring, intelligent, morale-boosting, confident, and many other positive attributes we appreciate and hope for in a leader. Others, on the flip side, can be disrespectful, arrogant, unfair, uncompassionate, and even downright mean. All the personality traits that make a boss a pain in the you-know-what.

If you have a boss you simply can't tolerate or want to prepare for the chance that you may one day be burdened with one, here are 3 ways to deal with a boss you can't stand. It's all about how you handle things to make your work life satisfactory.

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3 Ways to Shine at Your Performance Review

Each year, or multiple times per year, say quarterly, the boss brings in each employee to his or her cushy corner office for that often dreaded, sometimes highly anticipated, but always expected, performance review. If you haven't had one yet, you're bound to eventually. But it's nothing to get frazzled about, in fact, it can bring you to the next phase of your career.

Whether or not you feel like you've done a stellar, or at least satisfactory job leading up to the review, the prospect of actually sitting there to have your work hashed out, picked apart, and evaluated is daunting. You want to appear confident and put forth the best version of yourself as you discuss your performance, from the A+ moments to those not-so-remarkable ones. Hey, we all have 'em.

You may be nervous, hopeful, or even self-assured, but no matter your emotions, you really never know what's going to go down. However, you can prep yourself in order to shine like the star you know you are or aspire to become. Follow these three tips so your performance review deserves a standing ovation!


Prepare Ahead of Time

Even the most confident employee should get ready before the big meeting. Collect your facts and figures, make notes, and rehearse key talking points. Of course you know what you've been up to since your last review, but your boss is busy, and may only have a broad overview of what you have done specifically. Listing out your main accomplishments and what you've done to move the needle will be imperative discussion points when your boss needs to know what makes you a value to the company.

As per USA Today, prepare a self-evaluation. "Plan ahead by keeping a file of your accomplishments. Then, prior to your review, draft a document reviewing your accomplishments. Use bullet points, making it easy to read with measurable outcomes. Provide your self-evaluation to your boss prior to your review."

This planning will allow your boss to save time during your meeting and already have a feel for what to further delve into. It will also show that you're organized and prepared. Plus, it will help you stick to a positive discussion trajectory and give your boss a better understanding of your progression and work ethic. It may also ease any jitters you have regarding forgetting prime topics you want to cover during the performance review.

State Plans for the Future – Personally and Professionally

So you've made it this far, but what's to come? A plan of action is just what your boss wants to learn about once you've followed up on the past. Knowing that your boss wants to hear about goals and moving forward is a positive sign that your performance review made the grade up to that point.

Talk about how you want to help make the company stronger and grow professionally – both for your own goals and for the good of the company. Forbes interviewed some members of the Young Entrepreneur Council. One member, Brittany Hodak or ZinePak said, "Entrepreneurs value employees who are constantly striving to make themselves better—having a more skilled team leads to a better company. Another member, Phil Laboon of Clear Sky added, "I am always looking for my employees to tell me things they would like to pursue within the company. By suggesting a project they would like to manage, it shows me their continued interest in the company. I feel confident that if it's a project they are suggesting, then they will excel at it."

Showing that you have a vested interest in the company's success is just as important as what you've done so far. There is always room for new strategies, projects, and improvement. Prove you're in it for the long haul and have visions for the months and years to come.

Discuss What's Not Benefiting You or the Company

Not every breath of your conversation during your review needs to be rainbows and butterflies. It's beneficial to discuss items that need improvement too. Honesty is valued and an ambition to do things better is always appreciated by an intelligent boss. It's also a good idea to discuss ways to change things up or introduce new practices and performance-enhancing programs or technology.

As per Forbes' interview with entrepreneurs, Manpreet Singh of Seva Call said, "I love it when team members keep me informed of new performance-enhancing options. And performance reviews are the perfect way to contextualize a conversation about the benefits of adopting new tools and methods."

When you can be open about room for improvement, everyone wins. As USA Today puts it, "Get consensus with your boss in terms of how you'll address your opportunity areas or weaknesses. Remember, we're all works-in-progress so have a positive attitude about improving your performance."

Keep your ideas well-formulated – don't go on a tirade about co-workers in the office or nitpick about inconsequential issues. Most importantly, at your next review, be prepared to exhibit how you've made progress in the areas discussed.

After a successful review and the timing is right, a raise in salary may be just what the doctor ordered. Need help in how to approach your boss to discuss a salary increase? Check out these tips to make it work in your favor.

Are you ready to shine at your performance review? Keep cool and show your boss you're an asset.

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3 Ways to Impress Your Boss

We all want to be on great terms with our boss. Doing a stellar job with the work itself as well as related projects and assignments is an obvious way to win over the higher-ups, but there's more to impressing the big guy or gal than robotically clocking in and going through the 9-to-5 motions.

If you really want to make a lasting impression, it's time to take your game to the next level. Of course, do your work with an A+ effort, but go the extra mile with these 3 tips to making yourself the apple of your boss's eye. No sucking up or kissing butt required. Just be the best version of yourself and show your boss who's really boss! It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Ask for Constructive Criticism

Even if you think you're doing a good job, asking your boss for feedback is not only helpful, but it shows that you are striving to improve within your role and for the company at large. There's always room to grow and learn, and letting your boss know you crave this information makes you a humble, yet go-getter employee.

As per The Muse, "The best thing to do is schedule a meeting with your new boss, and ask for direct feedback. Asking your boss to identify your areas for improvement forces him or her to take an inventory of your work as whole—including everything you're getting right. Moreover, if there's something specific you're doing wrong, you'll know. And, the sooner you do, the sooner you can make a change."

This feedback will help you not only do your job satisfactorily, but better than ever, with tools and techniques you may not have thought of yourself, but are of importance and value to your boss. Al Coleman, Jr., author of Secrets to Success: The Definitive Career Development Guide for New and First Generation Professionals, as posted on Forbes notes, "If you don't do great work it'll be difficult, if not impossible, to win over your boss. Employees who do good work, consistently, efficiently, and professionally, are a joy to manage and ultimately allow their manager to focus on critical issues within the organization. The less your boss has to focus on your accomplishing your daily tasks, the more he or she can focus on accomplishing his or hers."

The feedback you receive will help you and your employer get to the next level.

Show Initiative

It is easy to take an assignment and complete it from A to Z. But a boss wants more from an employee -to see that you can not only conquer a task at hand, but can be innovative and creative along the way. Bring new ideas to the table and interesting ways of tackling projects.

Initiative means you can feel confident to break the status quo as long as you can exhibit progress and success. As per Business Insider, "If a process or project is broken or dysfunctional, fix it! Or talk to someone who can. If you don't, who will?" Don't be too timid to make your voice heard. Your boss will remember it was you who took the step to make a change for the better and will rely on you for future collaborations.

Additionally, Forbes suggests, "Try to think of valuable projects or assignments that you can start and complete without much supervision or guidance from your boss," as per Coleman. Showing that you don't need to hold your boss's hand at every turn will make you someone to count on.

Get Personal (to a degree)

Bosses are people too. They have interests that extend outside the office walls. If you can see that your boss is receptive to it, during downtime or lunch hour, ask your boss about their weekend plans, how their fishing trip was, or how their children are doing.

Showing interest in their hobbies and talents other than what you know of them as "boss" is a way of getting closer to the true personality and mindset of your boss. Bosses need to vent or chit chat too, so by getting a little closer, he or she will come to you to exchange pleasantries or rehash last night's ball game.

This dynamic makes working together less stressful and well-rounded. As per Forbes, "She'll appreciate your efforts to share in something they find pleasurable, and you may get some invaluable one-on-one time to display your skills and competencies."

When your boss realizes you're interested in them in more ways than one, you become someone who's showing they're all in for the company, not just showing up for a paycheck.

Are you ready to impress? Take this 1, 2, 3 approach to showing your boss you mean more than just business!

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Four Factors to Becoming a Super Boss

You're at the top of your game. As "boss," you have control over so much of your business. Between the phone calls, orders, hiring, bills, and day-to-day grind, your employees may not see the best of you as much as you wish they could.

Being the boss is more than signing paychecks and snagging the highly-coveted corner office. It means being a shining example for your staff. Showing them the ropes and maturely mentoring. Encouraging innovation and teamwork. It will feel great knowing you've taken your role as boss to the highest level. Work will be more productive and employees will stick around for years to come. Here's how to be a super boss and have a staff brimming with admiration and pride.

Have Some Humor

Being in charge is serious business, but without some comic relief every now and then, stress and frustration will creep in and start to make things far from fun. It's important for even the most business-like boss to take it easy now and then to show the team that life is only full when all parts of the spectrum are taken in.

As per Inc., "Time and experience usually teaches us lessons in our own limitations and fallibility. That tends to infuse a sense of humor, humility, and empathy, at least in some well-balanced adults who just so happen to make great bosses."

Exhibiting a keen sense of humor shows that you are approachable and humble and you know that enjoying your time at work is part of a company's overall success. All work and no play makes for a pretty dull existence. Laughter and comradery are part of a tight-knit workforce. You'll burn out quickly without the light of a beaming smile.

Take Responsibility

A super boss has integrity and while he may dole out tasks to his team, he understands that he's the one ultimately responsible for the company's success. When things go well, it's easy to take credit, but a good boss takes the heat when things aren't up to par just the same.

Inc. notes, "There are no absolutes in business. You make commitments, put your butt on the line, then see how you did. Unless you complete that feedback loop and hold everyone's feet to the fire, nothing really counts."

Bosses who know how to manage appropriately and make smart choices understand that even with the best intentions and planning, things don't always go swimmingly. A responsible boss won't ignore the obvious and will lead the team in a fresh direction. There's no time for putting on a pair of rose colored glasses when things are already crystal clear.

As Salary explains, "Does the boss help employees recover from mistakes, or does he blow a gasket?" If the latter is evident, it's a sign that the boss isn't taking responsibility for himself or his staff.

Be Honest

To be a successful boss, honesty is the only policy. Sugarcoating and exaggerating only sets a company back. An honest boss gets what's working, what needs more gas, and what to let go of.

Bosses must be honest with themselves, their customers, and most importantly, their staff. As per Salary, "If the boss is telling you things about your future with the company that just aren't true, like there is room for growth when no one has been promoted from within for years, you're in trouble. You want someone who will tell it like it is, pull no punches and be realistic about what the future holds."

It's easy for employees to gather the honesty level of their boss – as Entrepreneur notes, "They wear their emotions on their sleeves. They show sincere excitement when things go well. They show sincere appreciation for hard work and extra effort. They show sincere disappointment -- not in others, but in themselves."

An honest boss will try to help his team better themselves, not brush sub-par work under the rug. That will only snowball into a bigger issue for the company at large. Kindness and honesty are not the same thing.

Take Charge

Just try to find a boss who's shy or a wallflower of any sort. If you can, he's a rare bird. Most super bosses are the take charge type, who thrive on running the show and making the needle move with vigor.

According to Entrepreneur, "Memorable bosses lead because their employees want them to lead. Their employees are motivated and inspired by the person, not the title." Just because someone's "boss" doesn't make him great. It's his attitude and sense of authority that makes him special.

A take charge boss doesn't sit idly by and wait for change to come. He's a get-the-job-done type who will take any reasonable avenue to make that happen. Inc. notes, "They're like machines that are programmed to do whatever it takes to get things done. And they'll find a way, no matter what. Those are the kind of people you want running things."

And just because a boss is a take charge person doesn't mean he does all the work. Being in charge means being confident, making smart decisions, allocating tasks, and problem solving. They must know all key elements of the business but be smart enough to hire the right people to make the business soar.

Be a super boss. Success starts at the top!

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