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Believe in Your Boss or Find Another

Bosses come in all shapes and sizes. They also come with a variety of temperaments and management styles. Some are easy to like; others are not even easy to be around.

As a subordinate, you may think you are stuck with the boss you have and the job you hold. I would argue there is a different way, a better way. If you’re not happy with either your boss or your position, find another. However, I wouldn’t recommend quitting unless you have somewhere to go or someone new to go to.

It’s incumbent for each of us to ask these questions: “Do I believe in my boss?” “Can I follow my boss?” “Do I like my boss?” If the answer to all three is yes, you are in a good place and should stick with what you have been doing and are doing in your professional life.

If you believe in your boss, it’s fairly easy to follow what he or she has to say or asks you to do. If you do not, it’s time to find another boss.

What if you love your job and the work you do but you are not so crazy about the boss? This can be a dilemma. Moreover, it may require some action.

I had two bosses during the course of my military career with whom I simply didn’t get along. It was a bad fit in both situations. They were terrible leaders; they were horrible managers. They both appeared to have had charismatic bypasses.

I tried to make it work and was respectful toward them, but I finally chose to deal with the situation straight on. In both cases, I waited until after normal duty hours, when fellow staffers were gone. I knocked on their respective doors and asked if we could talk. I told them I was not comfortable with our relationship and asked how it might be repaired. They responded as I had expected. They mumbled something about our having to work toward improving things. I sensed they meant that I had to make some changes.

In both cases I did my share of attempting to improve things, yet nothing seemed to change. I worked hard while moving in a direction that would lead me to reassignment. In both instances, I was chosen for an even better position of responsibility and moved on to a better place professionally.

When faced with such a dilemma, you might seek a lateral transfer. There have been cases in which people have taken a step over or down or even a cut in pay to find a better way.

However, if you’re one of the lucky ones and love your boss, that makes it easier to come to work every day. I’ve even known people who can’t wait to get to work, some who brag about what they do when they get there, some who even sing the boss’s praises. What a great place to be.

This may sound like a simple test, but it’s worth taking. Most of us have to look in the mirror each morning to wash our faces and brush our teeth. Same thing at the end of the day.

When doing this in the morning, you can ask yourself this question: “Am I going off today to do something important?” It doesn’t mean you have to save the world or change the course of Western civilization. But if the answer is yes, you are headed in the right direction.

If at the end of the day you ask the question “Did I do something of value today?” or “Did I make a difference?” and the answer is yes, you’re in a good place. You may want to stay where you are.

However, in this age of upward and outward mobility most people will experience several jobs in their professional careers. Don’t fear moving on if you don’t enjoy your job. There probably is something better out there for everyone.

On the other hand, what if the problem is you? What if it’s not so much how good a boss you have but the fact that you can’t relate to that boss or any boss? You indeed may be the problem.

If you are, you need to either fix the situation or find another path in which you are the person of least resistance. If you don’t, you’re just a clog in the wheel of progress.

We should all have golden rules to live by, ones that will serve us well. When it comes to bosses, there’s a general rule to help guide you: you don’t have to love ’em, you don’t even have to like ’em, but you need to remember that the boss is always the boss. That being the case, you need to work consciously with and for him or her to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss, and the organization for which you work. You won’t regret it.