Coping with a really bad boss

Help getting through the week
During these economic times, as difficult as it may be to stay put, for many of us the best option is to stay, even with that really bad boss. In the first installation of her series “Coping with a Really bad boss” Denise talks about dealing with your really bad boss, one day at a time.

Its Sunday night and you’re already dreading the week ahead and wondering how you’re going to make it through. The work is piling up and so is the pressure. Your boss isn’t getting any better, in fact she’s worse. And in these economic times it feels like you have no choice but to stay put.

For two years I endured a verbally abusive boss (I fondly refer to him now as the Reprobate) who ran around cursing at the top of his lungs and leering at the women in the office. I stayed because it was my first job out of college. I’d left home and didn’t want to return humiliated and defeated. And, fresh out of school, I wasn’t aware of my rights and thought this was just the way business was done. So I put up with it. And while putting up with it, I learned some really valuable lessons. I learned I was stronger and smarter than I had given myself credit for. The Reprobate sent me from city to city to check on products without a plan or clearly defined purpose. He would bark out a command that I go visit a drug chain in some remote city out west, and I’d be gone on literally, a wing and a prayer. In those pre-GPS days, I would get off the plane, rent a car, get a map and sometimes 10 hours later end up back at my hotel room, tired and angry, but done. I told myself every day, “this is the worst job I’ll ever have”, and I meant it. I’ve never again put up with that type of abuse and I’ve turned every bad boss situation I’ve had since then into a learning experience.

A couple of tips to help you get through this week:

1. Take it one day at a time. If on Monday morning, you’re worrying about what might happen on Wednesday, by Wednesday you’ll be a wreck. Begin mentally prepping yourself from Sunday night. Take it easy on Sunday, rest and enjoy the day as much as possible. Its sometimes easier said than done, but practice enjoying your days away from the office. Don’t spend them dreading Monday.

2. Remember that everything, and I mean everything, that happens is preparing you for the next phase in your life and career. Learning to deal with a micro-manager will teach you patience, an incompetent one will teach you to step up your game to the next level, and a reprobate will show you who you don’t want to be when you move up the management pipeline. Soak up as much knowledge and information as you can. Try to see every trial and obstacle as an opportunity to advance your skill set. Last but not least, repeat after me, “what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger. “

Next time: Knowing your rights with a really bad boss

www.reallybadboss.com