Having a good or bad boss can make a huge difference in how happy you are with your job. It can be hard to find a good boss and especially when you just start out with your job you might tend to face discrimination or realize that your own boss may be limiting your career growth. Though this is not true for all people, it is still something to consider how do you handle it when your boss is against your best interests?
WHAT DOES A BAD BOSS LOOK LIKE?
First of all, how can you identify that your boss may be blocking your career growth? Limiting everyone’s opportunities and abilities to do work and get it done is one of the many signs that your boss may only care about climbing up the ladder themselves. They may be disorganized and end up wasting your time or won’t provide you with autonomy in your decisions. They may feel that they have to control each and every task done by their employees so they don’t lose that feeling of authority. Other than this your boss may just undermine or underestimate you. There are many many ways that you can identify if your boss is working alongside you or against you and it is important that you keep an eye out for these signs so that you don’t find yourself feeling unfairly treated on a larger scale.
NOW WHAT?
Okay so you’ve read through all the signs and whatnot, and you come to the conclusion that you have a bad boss, someone that is actively blocking you from growing as an individual in your career. The question is now what? What do you do about it?
COMMUNICATION
If your boss is willing enough to change and take feedback from you then have that conversation with them. Though it is easier said than done you may be surprised by the outcome. It is important that you give them a heads-up about this conversation and have it one-to-one privately so you can address your concerns openly. Use positive words and try not to dwell on the past. Instead, bring up new ideas on how to boost morale and employee satisfaction. Bringing up past events may make the conversation feel like a blame game instead of addressing actual issues in the workplace. However, it is important to know this only works when your boss is a good person who tends to exhibit bad behavior rather than if you just have an overall bad boss.
CHANGING YOUR OWN APPROACH
If trying to provide input on your boss’ behavior doesn’t work then instead of changing your boss’ approach what you can do is change your own approach. You can only try to direct how your employer thinks but you can’t control their behavior or how they choose to run things. On the other hand, something you can easily control and change is your own behavior and approach. Asking other mentors for advice and guidance is one of the many ways you can do this. You can also build your network so it can help you learn newer skills and strategies. If your boss seems to restrict your career growth then turning to other sources of guidance may be a viable option. Meeting with mentors and supervisors often can mean that they’ll also be there to advocate for your skills.
EXIT STRATEGY
If all fails then you have to realize that it may be time for you to look for other jobs. A terrible job with a good boss can help you learn a lot more rather than a good job with a bad boss. A good boss helps motivate you, develops your skills, and will advocate for you when needed. Be clear about your career goals and where you plan to see yourself in a couple of years. Setting aside specific time to think about this will be beneficial to have a clear seat of goals in your head. Once you have your goals sorted out, think about if your current job is helping fulfill them. If you don’t see these goals being fulfilled or even see them being fulfilled in the near future then it may be time to consider shifting to another job. To do this it is important you research thoroughly, analyze jobs and how well they fill your requirements, draw up a detailed development plan, and also a list of your skills and if you are ready to make the jump. This is an option that holds a lot of risks and if you don’t have the safety net to shift to another job then do not risk it. It is rather a last resort option when you have the resources to do so.
START A CONVERSATION
It is not always a viable option everyone has that they can easily leave their job. Besides this, it is very hard to find a good boss who is willing to take input. If these two strategies don’t seem feasible for you then another option may be to choose your battles and build a network. Talk to your coworkers they may feel the same way about this. Starting conversations like this means that there is a stronger bond between coworkers. There is strength in numbers and if you decide to bring up the topic again your boss may be much more willing to listen if a group of people approaches them with the same problem. Even if talking to your boss together may not work, your job may become a lot more bearable when you have coworkers to talk about these issues about. It can also boost teamwork and cooperation meaning that even though your boss may be restricting your career growth you can still find opportunities to not only learn new skills but also teach your fellow coworkers.