NOTE: This is a book excerpt with minor edits from Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work by Dr. Noelle Nelson.
Your boss has a particular way of relating to the workplace - his or her approach to employees and responsibilities. Those behaviors define your boss’s type.
There are seven different types of bad bosses. Finger Pointer Boss, for example, is one who manages by blaming, a hoary old method that has never worked, but is the only one he knows. Egomaniacal Boss is a boss who relentlessly toots his own horn, behaves as if he is God’s gift to the department, the company, the world, and who leaves behind a chaotic trail of unfinished projects, misplaced ideas and impossible tasks for you to deal with.
Screamer/Irrational Boss reacts to the least bit of upset in the workplace, in her personal world, or in how she feels that day, with a high-pitched screaming fit.
There are seven Bad Boss types: Finger Pointer Boss, Ghost Boss, Incompetent Boss, Egomaniacal Boss, Screamer/Irrational Boss, Favoritism Boss, and Sexist Horny Pig Boss.
Unlock The Secrets Of Bad Boss Behavior
A Bad Boss behaves in many ways like an abuser. While all of us have secret fears, abusers take their fears and insecurities out on others. Knowing your Bad Boss's type leads to knowing his or her secret fears and desires, so you’re no longer at the mercy of your Bad Boss’s abuse. Your boss becomes predictable to you when no one else can figure out what’s going on.
Let’s say you have a Finger Pointer Boss. You discover that your Finger Pointer Boss’s
secret desire is to be a 100% success. Your Finger Pointer Boss’s
secret fear is that he’s terrified he doesn't have the goods, that he can’t pull it off.
The result? Whenever there’s trouble, a Finger Pointer Boss just lays it off on someone else. That’s why any time there’s a mess up, the Finger Pointer Boss’s knee-jerk reaction is to look for who he can blame. Too often, that’s you.
The trick is to change how your Finger Pointer Boss views you--from scapegoat to a much-needed problem solver.
This is critical, because once you are able to help your Bad Boss achieve his or her secret desire, you become important to your boss, and now you have power - not power to lord over your boss (that’s emotional blackmail). Instead, you have earned leverage - positive power to get what you want from your Bad Boss and come out looking good because of it.
The Workplace Has Changed
Your boss expects more and more from you. Profit is king. If a department isn’t doing well, it’s shut down - and you with it. Oh, and the work that used to be done by two or three people? It’s now routinely expected to be done by just one. If you can’t keep up, there are at least 10 other people only too eager to take your place. And Bad Bosses are quick to remind you of this.
Your protection against losing your job to an equally qualified person across the hall or halfway across the world and thriving despite a Bad Boss is simple: understand your Boss to the core, not just what makes your Boss tick but what drives him or her, and know how to use that information to work your Boss to your advantage.
Watch This Webinar!
Join us for this special presentation on dealing with bad bosses and getting what you want. Presenter: Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of
Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work.
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