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Discover The Different Types Of Bad Bosses

NOTE: This is a book excerpt with minor edits from Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work by Dr. Noelle Nelson. Your boss has a particular way of relating to the workplace - his or her approach to employees and responsibilities. Those behaviors define your boss’s type. There are seven different types of bad bosses. Finger Pointer Boss, for example, is one who manages by blaming, a hoary old method that has never worked, but is the only one he knows. Egomaniacal Boss is a boss who relentlessly toots his own horn, behaves as if he is God’s gift to the department, the company, the world, and who leaves behind a chaotic trail of unfinished projects, misplaced ideas and impossible tasks for you to deal with. Screamer/Irrational Boss reacts to the least bit of upset in the workplace, in her personal world, or in how she feels that day, with a high-pitched screaming fit. There are seven Bad Boss types: Finger Pointer Boss, Ghost Boss, Incompetent Boss, Egomaniacal Boss, Screamer/Irrational Boss, Favoritism Boss, and Sexist Horny Pig Boss.

Unlock The Secrets Of Bad Boss Behavior

A Bad Boss behaves in many ways like an abuser. While all of us have secret fears, abusers take their fears and insecurities out on others. Knowing your Bad Boss's type leads to knowing his or her secret fears and desires, so you’re no longer at the mercy of your Bad Boss’s abuse. Your boss becomes predictable to you when no one else can figure out what’s going on. Let’s say you have a Finger Pointer Boss. You discover that your Finger Pointer Boss’s secret desire is to be a 100% success. Your Finger Pointer Boss’s secret fear is that he’s terrified he doesn't have the goods, that he can’t pull it off. The result? Whenever there’s trouble, a Finger Pointer Boss just lays it off on someone else. That’s why any time there’s a mess up, the Finger Pointer Boss’s knee-jerk reaction is to look for who he can blame. Too often, that’s you. The trick is to change how your Finger Pointer Boss views you--from scapegoat to a much-needed problem solver. This is critical, because once you are able to help your Bad Boss achieve his or her secret desire, you become important to your boss, and now you have power - not power to lord over your boss (that’s emotional blackmail). Instead, you have earned leverage - positive power to get what you want from your Bad Boss and come out looking good because of it.

The Workplace Has Changed

Your boss expects more and more from you. Profit is king. If a department isn’t doing well, it’s shut down - and you with it. Oh, and the work that used to be done by two or three people? It’s now routinely expected to be done by just one. If you can’t keep up, there are at least 10 other people only too eager to take your place. And Bad Bosses are quick to remind you of this. Your protection against losing your job to an equally qualified person across the hall or halfway across the world and thriving despite a Bad Boss is simple: understand your Boss to the core, not just what makes your Boss tick but what drives him or her, and know how to use that information to work your Boss to your advantage.

Watch This Webinar!

Join us for this special presentation on dealing with bad bosses and getting what you want. Presenter: Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work.   WATCH NOW ►   Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Don't Be Abused By Your Bad Boss

NOTE: This is a book excerpt with minor edits from Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work by Dr. Noelle Nelson. You have a Bad Boss - a boss who makes your daily eight-plus hours an exercise in abject misery; mind-bending soul-searing abuse that you endure day after day. Make no mistake. It is abuse. An ugly word we usually associate with bad marriages or domestic violence. But abusers are common in the workplace also, most often in the person of a Bad Boss. The similarities between domestic and workplace abuse are striking:
  • The abuser dominates the relationship
  • The abused is afraid to do or say anything against the abuse for fear of reprisals
  • The abused doesn’t have the skills to better his or her position in the relationship, and feels condemned to put up with the abuse
  • The abused doesn’t have the financial means or other resources to leave the relationship
  • The abused is demoralized and resigned, endures the onslaught of cruel words and erratic behavior, and just hopes to survive another day.
Sound familiar? Those who don’t know better, say, “So leave, already.” Right! If only you could. But good jobs are scarce these days, job security is a joke, competition for good jobs is stiffer than ever, outsourcing is increasingly common and good pay hard to come by. Yet you and your family must be fed, clothed, and housed, and too often, even if you do find another job with decent pay, you’ve simply traded one variety of Bad Boss for another. Oh joy. It’s time to turn the tables on a Bad Boss so he or she begins to behave the way you want them to--so you get more of what you want out of your job and career. And it doesn't matter if your boss is a raging Egomaniac, a tyrannical Finger Pointer, an hysterical Screamer/Irrational Boss, or any other of the Bad Boss types, they all can be worked to your advantage. As a clinical psychologist and trial consultant, I know how critical a good relationship in the workplace is to your success. I've seen firsthand how people unknowingly, tragically, let Bad Bosses ruin their careers because they just didn't know how to work that boss-employee relationship. I’ve helped client after client turn a lousy relationship with a Bad Boss into a success story. Your Bad Boss isn’t going to wake up one day, smell the coffee and suddenly transform into the boss of your dreams. It’s up to you to transform your relationship with your boss. You don't need defensive maneuvers, as in “How do I survive my tyrannical boss?” You need attack strategies as in “How do I get promotions, raises, whatever I want and need from my expletive-deleted boss?! The most effective strategy is to learn how to work your Bad Boss.

Watch This Webinar!

Join us for this special presentation on dealing with bad bosses and getting what you want. Presenter: Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work.   WATCH NOW ►   Photo Credit: Shutterstock

How To Work Your Bad Boss

NOTE: This is a book excerpt with minor edits from Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work by Dr. Noelle Nelson. According to dictionary.com, “to work” something or someone is to put them into effective operation, to operate that thing or person for productive purposes. That is precisely what I mean by “work your boss.” I don’t mean transform your Bad Boss into a better boss. I literally mean: put your Bad Boss into effective operation to get you whatever it is that you want in your job or career. How? By learning your boss’s secret desire and secret fear.

Know Your Bad Boss’s Secret Desire And Secret Fear

Every boss has a secret desire - something he or she really wants but won’t reveal, because underneath that secret desire is a secret fear or insecurity that your Bad Boss can’t admit or doesn’t even understand. Your boss’s blind spot is your opportunity. When you satisfy your Bad Boss’s innermost needs, you become important to your boss. Now, you have the power to get what you want. That’s working your Bad Boss.

Face It: Your Bad Boss Doesn’t Care About You

The truth is, most bosses are so worried about their own job security that they’re not spending a lot of time fretting about you or your career goals. And Bad Bosses really don’t care about you. Bad Bosses only care about themselves. That’s why “managing up” is completely ineffective with a Bad Boss. You have a better chance of convincing people to ditch their cellphones than you do of getting a Bad Boss to have a meaningful chat about how to work more productively together. However, working your Bad Boss by learning the secrets to his or her behavior, and putting that knowledge to use for the productive purpose of getting what you want is absolutely doable.

What's Holding You Back At Work?

You have no doubt noticed that there are people out there who aren’t as talented or smart as you are, but they’re getting what they want. They've already figured out how to work their Boss. They have what you don’t have, style. They have the know-how to work their Boss’s secret fears and desires. That’s how they get what they want. They’re getting that raise, that promotion, that whatever you want too but somehow is always just out of your grasp. Don't despair. When you understand why people behave the way they do, you are in a much better position to get what you want, even from a Bad Boss. You hold the power. Once you know what motivates your Boss - not the obvious things like money, status, ego - but what lies underneath, all the secret fears and desires that make your Boss tick, you can use that knowledge to help you own your job instead of the job owning you.

Watch This Webinar!

Join us for this special presentation on dealing with bad bosses and getting what you want. Presenter: Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss To Get What You Want At Work.   WATCH NOW ►   Photo Credit: Shutterstock