How To Survive A Bad Manager

An Excerpt from Bess’s Journal Series, “Proclivity to Expand Part Two”

Deep in the dark office of the company, hidden behind walls of anger, sits the “Bad Manager.”  Most of us have had at least one. These self-loathing, power hungry pockets lounge behind their desks pretending to be productive when, in fact, all they are doing is delegating their responsibility.  They show little or no sympathy towards their employees and the only thing they truly “manage” is ruining your day.  Instead of dwelling on the negative aspects, however, the question becomes, “How do we cope with these self-absorbed monsters?” “What do we do when all options seem lost?” and “When is enough, enough?”

Bad managers are similar to a bad date, meaning that although you search for a way out or an excuse to bail, you stick it through until you can politely drive the date home and say good bye. Many people are pre-programmed to think that if they stick something out long enough, there will be a grand reward at the end. Unfortunately, this is not true in most situations. Honestly, the best advice anyone could give on how to deal with a bad manager is to just leave and find something else.

For the sake of this journal, though, I will assume that you are either unwilling or unable to leave. Maybe you are looking for something new and have to endure a bad manager until you have found it, or perhaps your family is heavily dependent on you and your options are limited.  In any circumstance, make it a point to at least explore your options once a month.  Avoid hiding behind the deceptive safety of a merely acceptable job, when what you really need is something more.  However, before making any choices, a thorough review of your current status is necessary.  So, where do you begin?

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