What to do if you hate your boss

Hate is of course a very strong word, thankfully  it’s not often in this life that you can say that you legitimately hate someone.  But within the highly pressurized environment of the workplace, and given the power battles which can take place when many ‘strong personalities’ are placed together, it’s little wonder that many people have at least a deep sense of resentment towards their boss or manager.

This can cause some major problems.

Generally in life, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you are afforded the luxury of simply avoiding them, but when that person is your boss your are faced with the constant, day in day out necessity to be in their company.

If you feelings of dislike are strong enough this can have a serious detrimental impact on your quality of life.  It is not an exaggeration to say that if you are unhappy in work, this spills over into all other aspects of your life, making things difficult for you, but also for those around you.

But what can and should you do if you find yourself in such a situation?

Here are a few examples of some things that you can try if you ‘hate’ your boss.

Quit

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you dislike your boss so much, and you are mobile enough to find a job elsewhere then this can often be one of the simplest solutions to this particular problem.  Of course it isn’t nice to feel as though you have been forced to leave a company simply because of your boss, but if the situation is unlikely to change within the near future, then this should be something that you consider seriously.   Who knows if you quit there may well be a kind, generous, and fun boss just waiting out there for you to discover!

Transfer

If you have the luxury of working for a company with multiple locations or departments, the it is always worth looking into a possible transfer which would get you away from your boss without having to leave the business all together.

It’s a subject that you need to approach delicately so to avoid any unnecessary awkwardness should your attempts prove unsuccessful.  If your company has a HR department this is probably a good place to start.  Contact them and tell them of your willingness to transfer should a suitable position arise.

Think

Perhaps a little self reflection is needed here.  Ask yourself very honestly, is it because they do things are disserving of your dislike, or is it because you are being overly sensitive to normal workplace behaviours, or have a chip on your shoulder because of their superiority, or something which has occurred in the past.

This is about examining the dynamics of the relationship you have with your boss, and taking an objective standpoint which will allow you to identify whether or not you might be able to improve the situation by changing your own behaviour.

Speak to your boss

If you have gotten to the point where you simply cannot remain silent any more, and have some legitimate reasons for your anguish, then arrange a meeting with your boss to discuss some of the issues.

This is not so that the pair of you can ‘hash it out’ it is so that you can both have an opportunity to explain the difficulties that you are having and discuss ways in which the working relations might be improved in the future.

This is of course  much easier said than done.  It takes enormous courage to approach your boss in this way, and there is no guarantee of a positive outcome, but hopefully it will demonstrate to them the extent of your unhappiness with the situation, and at the very least they may respect you a little more for having had the guts to raise the issue.

Grit your teeth and bear it

Sadly, there are times in life when the only way to deal with a person that you strongly dislike is simply to just grit your teeth and bare it.  It’s not pleasant, and it’s far from an ideal solution, but if you are able to simply put your dislike to one side and get on with your work, then perhaps the situation may resolve itself over time.