Dear Bad Boss - Thank You Very Much!!!

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So - when was the last time you were pissed at your boss for being "one heck of a stupid ass" - at least this is what you must have felt, isn't it?

The dynamics between a boss and a subordinate can be smooth or full of friction, but two things may be common at all levels:

- The boss feels, he/she is the boss at the end of the story!

- The subordinate feels he/she can do better than the boss!

This article is for everyone, who has ever said or even felt that he is reporting to someone who can be easily termed as a "Bad Boss" and is looking for a rescue from the "Bad Boss". Well, first things first - there is nothing called a good or a bad boss. Its all our perspective - in the "Corporate Jungle", the biggest unsaid rule is "Every Man for Himself". Everything else said or unsaid follows this rule. You never work to make your bosses or subordinates successful, you make them successful so that their success contributes to your success. Your own Success!!! Yes, I strongly feel its the success of the individual or his/her idea that is the motive behind every initiative / action in the Corporate Jungle...

So, why so much of fuss about the bad boss then? Why is it that most of the people feel their bosses are the negative category and attract so much of hatred and negativity from their team members? The answers go back to some of my previous lines in the very article! Because the average subordinate feels his/her boss is a threat to his/her success (or timely success) or his/her idea. This actually may be true in many cases too, but we are not getting into that dialogue in this article. I intent to pen down the learning's that we can take from our real bad bosses (where the boss is actually roadblocking the growth of subordinates)...

The best learning from your bad boss that you can ever get (and I must mention, one of my good bosses in the past gave me this advice) is that you get to "Un-learn a lot of Bad Practices"

Your boss may be insecure, insensitive with towards you, but he/she may exhibit a lot of behavioral aspects which can prove to be a great learning for you. Some common traits can be:

- Taking away all the credit for success
- Blaming the failures on to the team
- Initiating politics within the team to keep his/her position strong
- Restrictions on communication at large with external customers
- Wanting to be the central power point instead of a leader
- Above all, trying to instruct and not lead

Whenever you are dealing with a bad boss, you must realize that you may be in this position too and the bad boss may not even be aware of the fact that he/she is being bad! It can just be a personality trait which is more natural then intentional - and you need to identify it accordingly. Things that you can learn from your bad boss can be how not to:

- Deal with your team members
- Structure your team and communication styles
- Evade positives of your team members and indulge in malpractices, like internal politics
- Have a bad reputation with your team members (most important)
- Much more...

All this can happen only when you look at this entire scenario as a workbook and intentionally try to learn stuff. In all fairness, you will always have a boss in your life (most probably) and must understand that you can't evade him/her ever. Don't try to change your boss, change the equation with your boss. Please talk whenever you feel suffocated - it is imperative to breath freely in any job.

One last time again, there can never be a perfect boss or a subordinate - the only thing that can near perfection is the dynamics between the boss and subordinate - try and focus on this and you may get better results. Remember, if you know what not to do as a boss, your task to be a good boss is almost half done!!!

Hope you enjoyed this piece, till my next post, smile more often and eat healthy!!!

Cheers
Sumit