Previous Dilemma:
How do you deal with a blockhead boss?

 

We have a decent team, but we can’t make things happen smoothly. My boss assigns irrelevant tasks to my team. We put in a lot of overtime because of his idiocy. The guy is a joke around the department, and everyone except the executive team seems to know that. Should we confront the executive director, go to the CEO (the director’s boss) or live with it in silence? 

— Tracy, Manager 

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Summary of Advice Received

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Get a Grip on a Bad Boss
Six ways to tackle the problem
by Meryl K. Evans, Editor, B2B Social Media Digest 

Don’t believe that a blockhead executive can land such a high position? Matt Scherer, president, Scherer Communications, tells his story to show how management gets away with bad behavior. He was an editor of a newspaper nicknamed Puzzle Page. After production completed a page, Scherer and his boss Bill checked for errors and then verified the corrections.

Unfortunately, Bill never checked the corrections. One time, Scherer told Bill that the corrections needed verifying and that he would stay behind to do the work. When that didn’t work, Scherer went to Bill’s boss who happened to be good friends with Bill. Bill’s boss believed he couldn’t fix the proofing problem.

Two weeks after Bill left, Scherer took over his editing duties. He changed the proofing process, and the newspaper had its first error-free publication. His commander, one up from Bill’s boss, asked what happened. After conversing, Scherer learned that Bill had blamed him for the problems.

Having a bad boss is an icky situation, at any point in your career. Readers and experts offer ways to cope.

• Remember no one likes everyone.
• Do a self-review.
• Take a positive approach.
• Meet with the boss.
• Go to the “grand boss.”
• Accept the situation. 

Remember no one likes everyone

You don’t like everyone you meet, and even the nicest people encounter others who dislike them for no explainable reason. Marcia Yudkin retells a story in The Marketing Minute newsletter as told by The New Yorker’s cartoon editor Robert Mankoff in his book, The Naked Cartoonist: A New Way to Enhance Your Creativity.

“Cartoonist Robert Mankoff once set out to find a cartoon that nearly everyone who had any sense of humor would find funny.

“He sent what he thought was his own very best cartoon to 2,000 men and women, asking them to rate it from 1 (completely unfunny) to 10 (extremely funny). About 80 percent rated Mankoff’s cartoon 7 or above, which delighted him. Yet some respondents gave it a 1.

“Mankoff threw up his hands, calling this item ‘the most highly rated cartoon for funniness that I ever did, or (sob) will probably ever do.’”

Yudkin explains that people in your target market have many differences, and they won’t think the same thing when looking at an item or marketing message. “It’s foolhardy to aim at universal praise or acceptance,” she says.

Do a self-review 

Before jumping off a cliff and rattling cages, take an honest look at the situation and yourself. The boss may know more than you realize but only forwards what you need to know. “Just because you think he asks for irrelevant tasks, it could be that he has a higher need for information than you do. In other words, you may operate from a style that allows you to make decisions with just some basic information. On the other hand, your boss may be a bit more cautious and detailed-oriented,” says Timothy A. Wilson.

Another way to do a self-check is to talk with trusted colleagues. Get insight into the work and boss. They might be able to fill in the gaps for you. “And always keep in mind — it’s a two-way street. He might have just as many things that he wants YOU to change as you have for him,” says Anja Schuetz, people management coach.

Entrepreneur Mike Fleck paraphrases Peter Drucker on the chain of command. “The most logical person or the person with the best argument does not make the decision; the person who has the POWER makes it. Learn to live with that, and life goes a lot easier. Finding a way to make your boss look good may mean digging deeper to understand better how to do that.”

Take a positive approach

Rather than having the difficult conversation with the boss, experiment with feeding the boss’s ego, giving him credit and tossing sincere compliments. “The best way to deal with this kind of boss is to make your ideas seem as if they came from the boss. It sounds unfair, but it works,” says Kathi Elster, K Squared Enterprises. Do the work, give him credit, and he might stop assigning useless tasks.

Try to change your mindset into a positive one by making an effort to compliment the boss. “I’m not talking about schmoozing; although, there is evidence from a University of Michigan study that schmoozers are more likely to get raises over non-schmoozers. When your boss does something well, pay him a sincere compliment. Positive feedback will reinforce the behavior and improve your relationship with your boss,” says Susan Fletcher, PhD, psychologist and author. 

Meet with the boss

A few people recommend that Judy meet with the executive director to discuss the issue with diplomacy. “Speak up and improve your situation because festering in silence will only make your work environment less tolerable and less productive for you and your colleagues,” says Traci O’Dea, writer with aLookingGlass.

Think of the meeting as a problem-solving session and bring solutions with you. Kim Fabian, founder of TellUrBoss, offers tips on being diplomatic. “Discuss the specific tasks with your executive director first to ensure that he is aware of the problems in an issue-specific way. Do not attack him as a person, which is a recipe for defensiveness and backlash. Because these conversations are so difficult, it’s important to prepare some remarks and examples in advance and not just go in on the fly,” says Fabian.

Prepare for the meeting by capturing why the assignments are not relevant. Review the outcomes of these tasks, especially if they didn’t produce anything of value. Be prepared to discuss these assignments, priorities and outcomes with the boss.

Also, come with solutions and recommendations for his requests. “Armed with facts, present the team’s case as a business concern: deadlines missed, cost of overtime, missed revenue from projects on the back-burner, increases in sick days or employee turn-over,” says Julia Zunich, owner, Z Group PR.

Should meeting with the boss not work out, the team should meet with him to discuss concerns. If this also fails to solve the problem, it’s time to go to upper management.

Sandra Naiman, SMN Partners, suggests limiting questioning when discussing the assignments with the manager. Instead, save the questions for the more cumbersome tasks.

Go to the “grand boss”

Several readers outright oppose going to the CEO because going over someone’s head leads to more trouble. Others say it should be a last resort. Also, consider your corporate culture. “If the CEO has an ‘open-door’ policy, it makes sense to meet with him/her — but don’t go alone. At least two people from your department should go,” says Ann Middleman. “If you don’t have anything in writing, start saving his emails or memos. Build a case, and then go to the CEO.”

Use the same approach as meeting with the boss. Focus on the issue, show why the assignments are irrelevant to the business goals and objectives, use examples and avoid confrontation and insults.

As an alternative to going to the CEO, Ravi Kathuria of Cohegic proposes something that won’t be a quick solution but could help over the long-term. “Build relationships with the other team members of the executive team on a general basis. Then slowly, but surely, share what your team does and how some of the things the manager asks the team to do are not congruent with the most effective use of the team,” Kathuria says.

Accept the situation

Jay Valentine saw first-hand how a board can stick by a lousy boss regardless of the situation. “In my case, our CEO sent sexually loaded messages to our female marketing director and then invited my daughter who was just out of college to spend a weekend with him. He is a 50-year-old married guy. I reported it to the board, and it did nothing. I even produced the emails. So you need to know, the boss can be a total scumbag, and the management or board will stick with that person,” Valentine says.

Despite his effort, Matt Scherer couldn’t improve the situation until the loudmouth left. “They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In this scenario, the squeaky wheel will get the ‘boot!’ You can’t change other people. And upper management may not want to see what’s going on because they would have to put energy into changing things,” says Robin Siebold. Some readers say not to live with it in silence, while others believe the price to pay for trying to push for a solution could be too high; leaving things alone is wiser.

You can either stick it out or look elsewhere for a job where your manager values you. However, Heather Stagl of Enclaria, points out the downside of quitting. “It is said that people join companies but leave bosses. But what if you really enjoy your work and your coworkers, and don’t want to leave the company? Besides, what happens next time you find yourself in the same situation?” she says. 

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About the editor

Meryl K. Evans is senior editor at InternetVIZ and the content maven behind Connected Digest, B2B Social Media Digest and Professional Services Journal. Follow her on Twitter @merylkevans.