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#YourCareer : How To Deal With A Toxic Boss (And Maintain Your Sanity). Welcome your Thoughts/Suggestions?

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It’s no secret that managers can make or break your experience at work. A good boss can open doors for you and help you accelerate your career, while a toxic boss can make you dread getting out of bed every single morning.

If you find yourself currently experiencing the latter, here are some suggestions to help you deal with a toxic boss while still maintaining your sanity:

Evaluate their expectations

It can be hard to know what’s expected of you when you’re dealing with a toxic boss. But, there are two ways to combat this. The first recommendation is to ask for clarity. Set up a time to have a conversation with your boss. Check in on their top priorities. Ask about their biggest challenges and how you can alleviate them. You can even get clarity on their preferred communication style, particularly if you’re working remotely.

If having a conversation isn’t an option, or if you’ve already exhausted this option, try observing your boss instead. Pay attention to how they interact with others. Take note of the things you do that spark their interest. Observe when they’re the most stressed. Surveying your boss from this perspective can help you better understand how to interact with your manager based on their actions rather than their words.

If you’re already aware of your manager’s expectations, take inventory of how well you’re meeting them. If there are areas of improvement, be vigilant about those areas. However, if you are confidently killing it at work, it’s best to move on to the other suggestions.

 

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Article continued …

Filter the feedback

Once you’re certain you’re doing your job and meeting expectations, it’s safe to assume it’s not you; it’s them. If you have a condescending, overly critical, or insecure boss, recognize that they probably behave this way in other relationships too. Once you acknowledge this, you might even notice that they treat other colleagues the same way they treat you.

So, commit to not taking their behavior personally. Practice filtering their remarks, holding on to the feedback that will help you do your job better and discarding the digs and other comments that won’t add any value to your work or performance. Another thing you can do is to source your feedback elsewhere, which leads us to the next step.

Build your tribe

Because working with a toxic boss can be frustrating and mentally draining, it’s critical to build a tribe at work that can affirm and support your work and your day-to-day experiences. When creating your tribe, you want to find allies, mentors, and sponsors. Your allies might be your team members who work closely with you and your boss. Your mentor should be someone who can help you navigate your workplace woes with wisdom. Your sponsors are those who can speak of your work in rooms you haven’t been able to enter yet and who can vouch for your performance and track record.

While it might take time and intention to establish these relationships, they are worth it, especially the relationships you create with senior leaders and executives who can offer objective feedback, raise your visibility and create new opportunities for you at work.

Fortify your confidence

Having coached many top-performing high-achievers who’ve worked at toxic workplaces, I’ve seen first-hand how those experiences can chip away at one’s confidence. Without much care, it can cause you to second-guess your skills and question your capabilities. This is why it’s essential to protect your confidence so that you don’t wake up one day wondering why you no longer believe in yourself and the skills you’ve worked so hard to master.

One way to do that is to separate your identity from your career by creating a life you enjoy outside the office. Pick up a new hobby. Spend more time with your loved ones. Get in the habit of doing something fun or relaxing after work, even if it’s just once a week. While this might be tough to do when your career is negatively bleeding into your life, it’s essential if you want to maintain your peace of mind and self-worth.

Prepare your exit

While you might be able to survive dealing with a toxic boss, if you find that it’s holding you back from thriving in your career, then it might be time to map out your next career move. If you still enjoy your current company, then this might look like exploring internal opportunities that will allow you to work with a better manager. If you don’t see any value in staying where you are, this might be a chance to start fresh elsewhere.

Sure, it might be easier to stick with the devil you know than the devil you don’t know, as the saying goes. But, giving yourself a chance to find a better working environment can positively impact your career in the long run.

It’s certainly not easy dealing with a toxic boss. Without the right perspective and boundaries in place, it can take a toll on you. But taking the time to implement these steps, whether you choose to quit or not, can help you maintain your sanity and peace of mind even on tough days.

 

Forbes.com | October 25, 2022 | Adunola Adeshola

#YourCareer :How To Deal With Toxic Personalities In Your Workplace. Deal with a Jerk(s) at Work? The Top Three Jerks at Work. A MUst REad!

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When faced with a problem work mate, you can adopt the approach of one thoughtful professional who said “I’m thankful for all the difficult people in my life. They’ve shown me exactly who I don’t want to be.”

Peter Economy has made a career of studying and commenting on the workplace. You may remember him as the bestselling author of Managing for Dummies or for his leadership columns in Inc magazine. His most recent offering is Wait, I’m Working for Who?!? The Essential Guide to Dealing With Difficult Coworkers, Annoying Managers, and Other Toxic Personalities.

I visited with Peter on the challenge of bad bosses, troublemaking coworkers, lazy and time-sucking team members and other challenging personalities. He offered some excellent advice on how to manage jerk-at-work situations.

Rodger Dean Duncan: You cite research showing three out of four employees reporting that dealing with their boss is the worst and most stressful part of their job, while two thirds say they would gladly take a new boss over a pay raise. If bosses are really that bad, why are they tolerated by the organizations employing them?

Peter Economy: In some cases, bad bosses are themselves high performers—top salespeople or innovative product designers, for example—and the powers that be are afraid the company’s bottom line will suffer if they lose them. So, they do whatever they can not to lose them.

In other cases, it’s a matter of inertia. Unless an organization is totally falling apart because of the bad boss (which sometimes they do!), then dealing with the problem is not a top priority. It’s not until the organization starts losing great people who are not easily replaced that the bad boss gets dealt with. By then, the damage may already be done. As Gallup found, bad bosses are the number one reason why people quit their jobs.

Duncan: You write about 16 of “the most common jerks at work.” In terms of negative impact, what do you regard as the top three—and why?

Economy: My personal top three jerks at work are the following—

  • The Complainer. We’ve all worked with someone who complains about their job, their company, their boss, their coworkers, their customers, or anyone else they can find to blame for some problem, real or imagined. Complainers suck the life out of an organization, and if tolerated by management, they can spawn other complainers.
  • The Backstabber. Some people are just mean, and when you encounter a backstabber at work, you’ve got to constantly look over your shoulder to be sure you’re not going to be the next victim. This ongoing source of distraction has a tremendously negative impact on employee engagement and effectiveness.
  • The Micromanager. One of the things that makes bad bosses bad is when they micromanage the people who work for them. In fact, a survey of 3,000 professionals conducted by LinkedIn Learning found that micromanaging was the second most frustrating trait they experienced in a manager.

Duncan: What are the most productive first two or three steps when dealing with a toxic coworker or boss?

Economy: Disconnect from the emotions you feel because they will cloud your judgment about a situation. Determine exactly what the toxic person is doing to get a reaction from you, then refuse to play their game any longer. Confront the toxic person and let them know you won’t tolerate their bad behavior. Stand up for yourself and be courageous. If you do, others will follow your example.

 

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Article continued …

Duncan: Managing workplace conflict is a common challenge. What tips can you offer?

Economy: Whenever you’ve got two or more people in an organization, you’ve got the seeds of conflict. Managing conflict can become a full-time job for leaders.

When you must deal with conflict in your own organization, first be objective. Withhold your judgment until you have the full story from all parties and don’t take sides.

Be neutral. Identify the different emotions in play between the employees in conflict and the underlying needs that drive them.

Help your people see and understand the negative impact they are having on their coworkers, then help them find common ground to resolve the conflict.

Duncan: What steps do you recommend for confronting a toxic coworker or boss in a way most likely to produce positive change rather than merely worsening the bad behavior?

Economy: First, take a big step back and disconnect from the emotions that you feel whenever the toxic person does their thing on you. Call out the behavior—privately, one on one—and don’t ignore it.

If you’re a manager, then explain the negative effect the person is having on the organization and ask them to stop the toxic behavior. If they do, great—not every toxic employee is aware of their bad behavior. If they don’t, then you might need to loop in HR to start progressive discipline.

If the toxic person in your organization is your boss, then again, take them aside and explain the negative effect their behavior is having on the organization and on you personally. If they can’t or won’t stop, then consider transferring to a different part of the organization or leaving it altogether.

Duncan: Many people seem to allow themselves to be offended or “triggered” by other people’s behavior. How can people raise their own self-awareness so they can avoid falling into the easily offended or victim trap?

Economy: Some toxic people are good at pushing their coworkers’ buttons—really good at it.

Avoiding the victim trap begins with becoming aware of the effect the button pusher is having on you. If you find yourself getting angry or frustrated when you deal with a particular person in the organization, why is that the case—are they pushing your buttons? In some cases, however, victims don’t see the effect these people are having on them—they just react, which is exactly the behavior the toxic person is hoping for. If you refuse to play their game, they’ll eventually get bored and move on.

Duncan: What are some smart ways a job candidate can determine if a prospective job is a good fit?

Economy: Remember that any job interview should be a two-way street. A job candidate should also be asking the interviewer questions to gauge whether the position they are considering and the organization will be a good fit.

They should track down current and former employees of the company and ask them what they think about their organization and its leadership team (LinkedIn is a great resource for this).

And they should be honest in their own assessment of the company and the role they might play in it. Are they truly aligned with the organization’s values and mission? Are they excited about the prospect of working for this company? Do they like their prospective coworkers? It’s a good time to take off the rose-colored glasses.

 

Forbes.com | November 4, 2021 | Rodger Dean Duncan

 

#Leadership : How former Google & Apple Exec Kim Scott is Curing the World of Horrible Bosses…The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss? Letting Employees Give Performance Feedback to Bosses, Not Just the Other Way Around. Kim Scott is on a Mission to Rid the World of Terrible Bosses, Particularly the “Nice” Ones.

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Scott, a former Google and Apple exec, has cofounded a new startup with beta software launching next week called Radical Candor, and she’ll soon have a book out of the same name. Radical Candor puts the power in the hands of employees, helping them convert bad bosses to good ones.

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Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? Don't be that guy.

The surprising secret to being a good boss? Letting employees give performance feedback to bosses, not just the other way around.

And the startup is likely to be a big success because Scott is known to Valley insiders as a secret weapon: a CEO coach.

She launched her coaching career about three years ago when Twitter’s then-CEO Dick Costolo, having looked for a coach among “the usual suspects” turned to her, his friend, and said, “I like talking to you about this management stuff more than these people, why don’t you become my coach?” Scott tells Business Insider.

Surprised by the offer, she took him up on it.

Soon she was coaching CEOs like Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith (who just also asked her to be on Qualtrics board), Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, Shyp CEO Kevin Gibbon, and a number of other startup founders.

Radical Candor is her way of spreading her CEO coaching tricks to every manager.

But Scott’s career has been a wild and crazy ride that no one, least of all Scott, could have predicted would end up here.

 

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Russian investors and a deadly coup

She studied Russian literature in college, moving to Moscow after the Berlin Wall fell, where she got a job turning military factories into commercial ones, from making tanks to making tractors. (We asked her if the work was tied to the CIA, but Scott says it wasn’t.)

The job paid $6 a month, which let her buy one thing: a bag of potatoes. “So I ate potatoes for the first couple of months.”

Fortunately it soon led to a job with a venture investment firm trying to convince investors to join its new Soviet fund. The job paid a real wage but didn’t last long.

“We brought all these pension fund managers over to Russia and we’re driving to our first meeting and there’s this column of tanks coming,” Scott remembers. They had stumbled into the start of the 10-day coup, the failed attempt to oust president Boris Yeltsin.

Her guests remained safe and “they had a great time,” she laughs now.

But the Soviet Union was ultimately dissolved, ending the fund.. The VCs moved on to China.

She wound up working for one of the VC’s brothers at American diamond-cutting company Lazare Kaplan.

“So I wounded up starting up a diamond cutting factory in Moscow,” she says. This was her first management job.

But it was tough to get Russians to quit their safe government jobs to come work for an American at a commercial factory, even though it paid far more than $6 month.

Finally, a few agreed to consider the job if she had a picnic with them.

She learned the first lesson of “radical candor.” They wanted to get to know her better before they left their secure jobs.

“They wanted to know that if all hell broke lose, I could help get them and their families get out of there. They wanted somebody who could help them learn English. They wanted somebody who cared. I was like, ‘Oh! If that’s all it takes to be a boss, I can do that.’”

By the time she left Russia about two years later, “the factory was on a $200 million a year run rate.”

Being a boss “who cares” is a central part of her CEO coaching philosophy.

9/11 and Sheryl Sandberg

She left Russia to get an MBA at Harvard, where Sheryl Sandberg was a classmate. Her professor Richard Tedlow helped her land a job working for the FCC and that led to a job offer at her first startup, called DeltaThree, which did “voice over IP,” sending phone calls over the Internet.

She loved the tech industry but not the job, so she took a year off and wrote a novel instead.

The novel was a love triangle story with an underlying message about how capitalism is good at “rewarding what it can measure but bad at rewarding what people most value,” she says.

No one would publish it. (She self-published on Amazon where you can still buy it. It didn’t sell well.)

So she went to work at a friend’s startup making software for the mortgage industry and soon convinced them to back her idea for a spin-out company, Juice Software, online spreadsheet software for the financial industry.

Juice launched on September 10, 2001.

The very next day came the 9/11 terrorist attacks. New York was in ruins.

“We limped along for a couple of years and then sold, ‘sold’ being a very generous term for what happened,” she says. She was unemployed again.

“All the headhunters in New York saw my resume and scratched their head. You’ve got a failed startup and an unpublished novel, we don’t know what to do with you,” she remembers.

So she called her acquaintance, Sheryl Sandberg, for advice. Sandberg, who was at Google, showed Scott’s resume to then-CEO Eric Schmidt. He told Sandberg that it was “the perfect Google resume,” Scott tells us. “I was like, how could I be a loser in New York and perfect for Google?”

Even though she loved Manhattan, she moved to Silicon Valley to take the job at Google, right before Google went public.

“I knew I was lucky. I didn’t know how lucky,” she says. Most of the employees of that era earned a lot of money on their stock options.

Scott was hired to run AdSense, working for Sandberg. Scott brought to Google some of her favorite employees from Juice, including Jared Smith (who is today cofounder of $1 billion startup Qualtrics).

Together they “increased AdSense North America revenue 10-fold and we decreased headcount by 10%. That was really scaling. We had fun doing it. We built a great culture. They were magical Google years,” she says.

And she realized that her favorite part of the job was the part that most others disliked: the hiring, the managing, cultivating employees, and building a fun working environment.

Apple University comes calling

She wanted to do that for a living and soon she was talking to Professor Tedlow again. He had left Harvard and was working at Apple University training Apple managers.

The goal was to keep Apple’s exceptional culture even as it grew into a huge company and to “defy the gravitational pull of mediocrity” that usually happened as companies grew large.

“So I left Google, went to Apple and designed this class called Managing at Apple, which was ironic because I didn’t really know anything about managing at Apple, I had managed at Google. I did it for about two and a half years and taught it to thousands of managers,” she says.

That class became her testing ground for her “Radical Candor” theories  and one of the cornerstones of Apple’s management style.

She left Apple University to write a book about it, “And this book is getting published.” she says with a nod. “I’ve sold it to St. Martin’s Press.”

She also stumbled into the coaching gig, largely thanks to Twitter’s Costolo.

This all led her to give a 20-minute talk about Radical Candor to a group of startup CEOs at First Round Capital last winter. To her shock, it went viral.

“A huge number of companies contacted me and said, ‘make this our culture,’ and like the early days of AdSense there were too many fish wanting to jump into the boat and I didn’t even have boat.”

So in January, she launched a startup, funded by hot angel investor Micheal Dearling of Harrison Metal, with cofounder Joe Ternasky, former director of engineering at Google “who was my husband’s boss at Google,” Scott says.

The startup will take the ideas in the book and create software so any manager can learn them and easily use them.

Lose the aggression and the repression, please

Radical candor divides managing into two intersecting qualities  “care personally” about your employees (what the Russians wanted) and “Challenge directly” (honest, truthful communication styles made famous by Google and Apple).

screenshot/The Office

When you care personally, and you challenge directly, you are in the sweet zone of “radical candor.” Employees are well supported and the team runs smoothly.

When you don’t care personally, but you are honestly barking out orders, that’s “obnoxious aggression.”

When you don’t care personally and you don’t challenge directly, you are engaged in “manipulative insincerity” the worst boss style of them all “and that’s where politics comes in.”

But there’s another problem that’s far too common: being too nice, or “ruinous empathy.”

This is “responsible for 85% of management mistakes that get made,” Scott says. “That’s the boss who’s afraid of being called a jerk.”

With that boss, employees aren’t getting honest support and can fail right in front of you.

The chart winds up looking like this:

Radical CandorKim Malone Scottmanagement by Radical Candor

 

Scott and Ternasky are building software tools that will allow bosses to ask their employees for anonymous feedback on them with just a few clicks of a mouse. (“How did I do on our last 1:1 meeting? How did I do in the last team meeting?”)

If a boss earns feedback in boxes other than “radical candor,” the manager will then be offered advice from Scott and/or a network of other Radical Candor managers.

The software tools will not be sold to human resources departments — “over my dead body” Scott says — but will remain personal, confidential accounts that bosses can take with them as they move to new jobs, so they can continue to improve as their career progresses.

“People treat each other worse at work than they do in other environments,” Scott says because “feedback is a highly unnatural act.”

With Radical Candor Scott has a plan to make it natural, and painless.

 

Businessinsider.com | May 1, 2016 | 

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#Leadership : 10 Ways a Terrible Boss Can Still Teach You How to Lead…If you Have a Terrible Boss, Comfort yourself by Considering How Much you’re Learning.

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Terrible bosses are everywhere. They’re no fun to work for, but their lousy leadership does come with a silver lining: valuable “what not to do” lessons on effective leadership.

Free- Barbed Wire

Here are 10 of the most important areas where you can learn from your boss’ bad example.

1. Lack of decisiveness.
Atrophy, entropy and lethargy hold back people and organizations. Indecisiveness, foot-dragging, distraction, and disengagement impair productivity. Effective leaders don’t keep people waiting for a decision, they are decisive and strong minded.
2. Lack of vision.
Terrible bosses like to think they’re good enough to wing it. They spend their time on day-to-day operations without ever articulating a vision. Effective leaders understand the power of an inspiring, purposeful vision in getting great work from their teams.

 

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3. Lack of delegation.
We’ve all had at least one control freak boss. They’re everywhere, it seems, and their micromanagement cuts off all the oxygen to productivity. Delegating is an art, and the best leaders are those who give their teams the freedom to innovate and the structure to work together at peak performance.
4. Lack of communication. 
A boss who’s shut up in an office with little communication to the team is missing out on one of the most important elements of leadership. Communication is the key to all relationships. Great leaders take the time to listen, to understand, to ask questions, and to share with people what they need to know.
5. Lack of humility.
Insecure bosses often belittle team members and throw around their power–when things become difficult, they turn to insults and abusive language. Never in the history of the world have these tactics caused anyone to do better work. If anything, they fracture teams and cause good people to leave. Develop stress management skills if you need them, and help others do the same. Learn to find the best in people.
6. Lack of credibility.
Anyone–boss or not–who routinely fails to meet commitments and promises instantly loses credibility and trust. Effective leadership means keeping your word. It’s as simple as that.
7. Lack of resolve.
Terrible bosses often either seek out conflict or are so conflict-averse that they bury their heads in the sand and hope things will go away on their own. Workplace conflict is a fact of life, and the only way to get through it is to resolve it quickly and fairly.
8. Lack of responsibility.
A bad boss’s first response in any bad situation is to begin covering their own tracks and tagging others with the responsibility. Effective leaders know that by admitting their mistakes they demonstrate that messing up is part of trying and failure is part of succeeding.
9. Lack of positivity.
It’s hard to be around negativity all day every day without it getting to you–never mind trying to do anything productive. Encouraging others with positivity and empowerment is the best way to make people feel more appreciated, productive, and motivated.
10. Lack of leadership.
Ultimately, a lack of leadership could be the common factor in all terrible bosses who don’t lead, who don’t set the example, who don’t walk their talk, are bosses who become ineffective and less influential. an effective leader will always lead by example, and walk their talk even when no one is watching.

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The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
PUBLISHED ON: JAN 7, 2016
BY LOLLY DASKAL

President and CEO, Lead From Within

#Leadership : How Successful People Overcome Toxic Bosses … Research Suggests that Roughly 50% of Workers are Currently Working for a Bad Boss.

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Bad bosses contaminate the workplace. Some do so obliviously, while others smugly manipulate their employees, using them as instruments of their own success. Regardless of their methods, bad bosses cause irrevocable damage to their companies and employees by hindering performance and creating unnecessary stress.

Free- Rusted Tanker

The stress your boss causes is bad for your health. Multiple studies have found that working for a bad boss increases your chance of having a heart attack by as much as 50%.

Even more troubling is the number of bad bosses out there. Gallup research found that 60% of government workers are miserable because of bad bosses. In another study 69% of US workers compared bosses with too much power to toddlers with too much power.

Related: How Successful People Stay Productive and In Control

The comparisons don’t stop there. Significant percentages of US workers describe their bosses as follows:

  • Self-oriented (60%)
  • Stubborn (49%)
  • Overly demanding (43%)
  • Impulsive (41%)
  • Interruptive (39%)

Most bosses aren’t surprised by these statistics. A DDI study found that 64% of managers admit that they need to work on their management skills. When asked where they should focus their efforts, managers overwhelmingly say, “Bringing in the numbers”; yet, they are most often fired for poor people skills.

TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control. One of their greatest gifts is the ability to neutralize toxic people—even those they report to. This is no easy task. It requires a great deal of emotional intelligence, a skill that top performers rely on.

While the best option when you have a bad boss is to seek other employment, this isn’t always possible. Successful people know how to make the most of a bad situation. A bad boss doesn’t deter them because they understand that success is simply the product of how well you can play the hand you’ve been dealt. When that “hand” is a bad boss, successful people identify the type of bad boss they are working for and then use this information to neutralize their boss’ behavior. What follows are six of the most common types of bad bosses and the strategies that successful people employ to work effectively with them.

The Inappropriate Buddy

This is the boss who’s too friendly, and not in the fun, team-building sort of way. He is constantly inviting you to hang out outside of work and engages in unnecessary office gossip. He uses his influence to make friends at the expense of his work. He chooses favorites and creates divisions among employees, who become frustrated by the imbalance in attention and respect. He can’t make tough decisions involving employees or even fire those who need to be fired (unless he doesn’t like them). His office quickly becomesThe Office.

How to neutralize an inappropriate buddy: The most important thing to do with this type of boss is to learn to set firm boundaries. Don’t allow his position to intimidate you. By consciously and proactively establishing a boundary, you can take control of the situation. For example, you can remain friendly with your boss throughout the day but still not be afraid to say no to drinks after work. The difficult part here is maintaining consistency with your boundaries, even if your boss is persistent. By distancing yourself from his behaviors that you deem inappropriate, you will still be able to succeed and even have a healthy relationship with your boss.

It’s important you don’t put up unnecessary boundaries that stop you from being seen as friendly (ideally, a friend). Instead of trying to change the crowd-pleaser and force him to be something he’s not, having him see you as an ally will put you in a stronger position than you could have anticipated.

 

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The Micromanager

This is the boss who makes you feel as if you are under constant surveillance. She thought your handwriting could use improvement, so she waited until you left work at 7:00 p.m. to throw away your pencils and replace them with the .9 lead mechanical pencils that have the “proper grip.” She has even handed back your 20-page report because you used a binder clip instead of a staple. The micromanager pays too much attention to small details, and her constant hovering makes employees feel discouraged, frustrated, and even uncomfortable.

Related: 15 Secrets of Really Persuasive People

How to neutralize a micromanager: Successful people appeal to micromanagers by proving themselves to be flexible, competent, and disciplined while staying in constant communication. A micromanager is naturally drawn to the employee who produces work the way she envisions. The challenge with the micromanager is grasping the “envisioned way.” To do this, try asking specific questions about your project, check in frequently, and look for trends in the micromanager’s feedback.

Of course, this will not always work. Some micromanagers will never stop searching for something to over-analyze and micromanage. When this is the case, you must learn to derive your sense of satisfaction from within. Don’t allow your boss’ obsession with details to create feelings of inadequacy as this will only lead to further stress and underperformance. Remember, a good report without a staple is still a good report. Despite your boss’ fixation on detail, she appreciates your work; she just doesn’t know how to show it.

The Tyrant

The tyrant resorts to Machiavellian tactics and constantly makes decisions that feed his ego. His primary concern is maintaining power, and he will coerce and intimidate others to do so. The tyrant thinks of his employees as a criminal gang aboard his ship. He classifies people in his mind and treats them accordingly: High achievers who challenge his thinking are treated as mutinous. Those who support their achievements with gestures of loyalty find themselves in the position of first mate. Those who perform poorly are stuck cleaning the latrines and swabbing the decks.

How to neutralize a tyrant: A painful but effective strategy with the tyrant is to present your ideas in a way that allows him to take partial credit. The tyrant can then maintain his ego without having to shut down your idea. Always be quick to give him some credit, even though he is unlikely to reciprocate, because this will inevitably put you on his good side. Also, to survive a tyrant, you must choose your battles wisely. If you practice self-awareness and manage your emotions, you can rationally choose which battles are worth fighting and which ones you should just let go. This way, you won’t find yourself on latrine duty.

The Incompetent

This boss was promoted hastily or hired haphazardly and holds a position that is beyond her capabilities. Most likely, she is not completely incompetent, but she has people who report to her that have been at the company a lot longer and have information and skills that she lacks.

How to neutralize an incompetent: If you find yourself frustrated with this type of boss, it is likely because you have experience that she lacks. It is important to swallow your pride and share your experience and knowledge, without rubbing it in her face. Share the information that this boss needs to grow into her role, and you’ll become her ally and confidant.

The Robot

In the mind of the robot, you are employee number 72 with a production yield of 84 percent and experience level 91. This boss makes decisions based on the numbers, and when he’s forced to reach a conclusion without the proper data, he self-destructs. He makes little or no effort to connect with his employees, and instead, looks solely to the numbers to decide who is invaluable and who needs to go.

How to neutralize a robot: To succeed with a robot, you need to speak his language. When you have an idea, make certain you have the data to back it up. The same goes with your performance—you need to know what he values and be able to show it to him if you want to prove your worth. Once you’ve accomplished this, you can begin trying to nudge him out of his antisocial comfort zone. The trick is to find ways to connect with him directly, without being pushy or rude. Schedule face-to-face meetings and respond to some of his e-mails by knocking on his door. Forcing him to connect with you as a person, however so slightly, will make you more than a list of numbers and put a face to your name. Just because he’s all about the numbers, it doesn’t mean you can’t make yourself the exception. Do so in small doses, however, because he’s unlikely to respond well to the overbearing social type.

The Visionary

Her strength lies in her ideas and innovations. However, this entrepreneurial approach becomes dangerous when a plan or solution needs to be implemented, and she can’t bring herself to focus on the task at hand. When the time comes to execute her vision, she’s already off onto the next idea, and you’re left to figure things out on your own.

How to neutralize a visionary: To best deal with this type, reverse her train of thought. She naturally takes a broad perspective, so be quick to funnel things down into something smaller and more practical. To do so, ask a lot of specific questions that force her to rationally approach the issue and to consider potential obstacles to executing her broad ideas. Don’t refute her ideas directly, or she will feel criticized; instead, focus her attention on what it will take to realistically implement her plan. Oftentimes, your questions will diffuse her plan, and when they don’t, they’ll get her to understand—and commit to—the effort it’s going to take on her part to help make it happen.

The Seagull

We’ve all been there—sitting in the shadow of a seagull manager who decided it was time to roll up his sleeves, swoop in, and squawk up a storm. Instead of taking the time to get the facts straight and work alongside the team to realize a viable solution, the seagull deposits steaming piles of formulaic advice and then abruptly takes off, leaving everyone else behind to clean up the mess. Seagulls interact with their employees only when there’s a fire to put out. Even then, they move in and out so hastily—and put so little thought into their approach—that they make bad situations worse by frustrating and alienating those who need them the most.

Related: Why Leaders Lack Emotional Intelligence

How to neutralize a seagull: A group approach works best with seagulls. If you can get the entire team to sit down with him and explain that his abrupt approach to solving problems makes it extremely difficult for everyone to perform at their best, this message is likely to be heard. If the entire group bands together and provides constructive, non-threatening feedback, the seagull will more often than not find a better way to work with his team. It’s easy to spot a seagull when you’re on the receiving end of their airborne dumps, but the manager doing the squawking is often unaware of the negative impact of his behavior. Have the group give him a little nudge, and things are bound to change for the better.

Bringing It All Together

If you think these strategies might help others, please share this article with your network. Research suggests that roughly half of them are currently working for a bad boss.

<b>Get Your Valuation</b>

Travis Bradberry – Author