Remember she may have stressors you don’t see or fully understand. “Be cautious about your judgment until you collect the evidence,” says Useem.

Your assessment of her incompetence may be unfairly informed by these beliefs.Ĭonsider also whether you have all of the relevant information. Ask yourself whether you are jealous of her position in the organization or if you have a natural tendency to resist authority. Many people have blind spots when it comes to their bosses. “When you’re looking at your boss, the first thing you need to do before you judge, is look at yourself,” says McKee. Consider these tactics first.īefore you declare your boss useless, check your bias and better understand what you are seeing.

While leaving is an option, it’s not the only one for coping with a bad boss. Michael Useem, the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management at the Wharton School and author of Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win says that whether your boss lacks technical or managerial ability, the results are the same: bad bosses sap motivation, kill productivity, and can make you want to run from the job screaming. People get ahead because they show results or have the right technical capabilities, but they often don’t have the requisite people skills. McKee says that’s because too many companies promote people for the wrong reasons. Ineptitude in managers is unfortunately common. “Most people have had experience with someone who is incompetent, or at least unhelpful,” says Annie McKee, founder of the Teleos Leadership Institute and co-author of Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your Effectiveness.

But with the right mindset and a few practical tools, you can not only survive but flourish. Dealing with the latter can be anguishing and taxing. But there’s a difference between everyday griping and stressful frustration, just as there is a clear distinction between a manager with a few flaws and one who is incompetent. In fact, some consider it a national workplace pastime. Everyone complains about his or her boss from time to time.

With manager not working