Putting up with the boss you don't like in order to keep the job may be a great challenge, like surviving some illness. Having
a boss or a supervisor who doesn't have mood swings, doesn't act like some kind of "enlightener", or doesn't try to show everyone that "he is the man", is a blessing, but not too many of us are so lucky. Most of the time we need to make certain adjustments to our bosses in order to save the job. Knowing how to act when your boss displays a very odd or insulting behavior may be crucial if you hate moving from one job to another and finding out that a new supervisor is not any better than the previous one. First of all, determine what kind of personality you are dealing with. If this is someone who likes to "enlighten" you by constant sharing his work and life experience and enrich your perfomance by giving you some senseless guidelines and directions, pay tribute to that. It will make your life a lot easier. Sounds like brown-nosing, but a sad reality is that you need to live with compromises. Tell your "enlightener" that his sharing experience and providing guidance is indeed very helpful to you, and that you feel extremely comfortable and secure knowing that you can always ask for his second opinion and help. If you have your own ideas about how to perform your duties, inform your boss about it in a very diplomatic way. Tell him that his incredible knowledge and skills inspired you to be more creative and to look for different ways of doing your work. People who are in much love with themselves won't notice any sarcasm and will take it seriously; this may help you avoid following his stupid rules. When you deal with some moody bastard who can turn his employees' life into hell while being in a bad mood, try to block your mind from his insulting comments. The major
thing is not to take things personally. Don't be thinking,"What did I do to deserve that? Why does he/she disrespect me so much? What is wrong with me that makes him think I can be treated this way?" Most likely there's nothing wrong with you. There's much wrong with your boss, who thinks, since he worked his way up, he is entitled to being moody and careless about how his actions and words make other people feel. A good thing to do in a situation when your boss mistreats you is to play a
little stupid and say something like,"Pardon me, I missed the second part of what you just said." Never show that your feelings are hurt. Instead, give them a long look (not dirty, but puzzled and confused) to make them feel uncomfortable. However, if things get really unbearable and you feel there's more than you can take, tell them all you think about them, find another job, and move on. The hardest thing is handling a boss or a supervisor who knows about your and his own job a lot less than you do. You may fantasize a little bit and at the most difficult moments think that he is a little child who tries to teach the adult (you) how to do certain things. Handling children takes patience, therefore thinking of your boss as a child who is on a different developmental level may help you feel better. When the temptation to tell him that he should have never been supervising you due to his incompetency becomes extremely acute, switch your mind into a different subject , like having dinner with your best friend, terrific sex with your sweetheart ( that already took or will take place, either way it should work), or about your children's progress. You may think of anything, as long as it makes you smile and reminds you that life is not only about working with some dummy. The major thing while dealing with someone difficult is always to remember that nobody is perfect. Having a boss whom you don't admire may be as much blessing as working with a beautiful person you adore. Difficult bosses are the ones who help us develop very valuable qualities - patience, flexibility, diplomacy. After all, one day you may be grateful to your boss for this valuable