How To Deal With a Bad Boss

Even if you’re one of the lucky five-percent of us who actually enjoys their job instead of waking up every morning contemplating blowing off an entire career for an extra hour’s sleep (you could always, like, test out new forms of edible marijuana for a living, or something like that), chances are you’ve dealt with a boss that has, at least sometimes, made your life miserable.

Hell, Darth Vader could choke a guy with his bare hands from across a room, and even he had to answer to Emperor Palpatine—and that dude was a total fucking dick. The point is, at some point everyone needs to learn how to deal with a bad boss, whether it’s the overbearing micromanager, or the “cool guy” who takes you all out to post-work drinks, gets into a fight with his wife after three rounds of Fireball, and throws up on your new Florsheims.

Do you find yourself overcome with dread whenever your phone buzzes with a new email? Do you sneak onto your company’s Glassdoor page under a pseudonym late at night to leave nasty reviews about your superiors? Have you secretly contemplated slipping into the local park before sunrise to locate a fresh dog turd, transporting it to work in a Tupperware container, and leaving it in your boss’s office as a surprise when she arrives at the office in her stupid bicycling outfit? Us, too.

Unfortunately, those are long-term solutions to what are usually short-term problems. Dealing with a bad boss is a valuable skill, and learning how to take the high road and address your issues in a professional manner will only earn you greater respect and more opportunities along the way.

Luckily for you, we have a wealth of experience working under those who seem to take pleasure in acting like absolute nightmares toward their subordinates. Let’s run through a few pieces of advice.

Take a step back.

Before you get all bent out of shape, you need to put a few things into perspective. Is your boss really all that bad, or are you just shitty at your job? Take your boss’s advice into consideration. They might suck, but they probably got to their position for a reason. And if they didn’t, remember that it’s probably in your best interest to keep them happy anyway.

If you are the one failing to meet deadlines or taking an extended lunch every day, maybe it’s time you change your ways. After you evaluate and alter your habits, if they’re still riding you, then it’s more likely that they are the issue.

Take the temperature of the workplace.

Do your coworkers constantly shit on your boss behind his or her back? Sometimes it’s easy to figure out if everyone is feeling the same things you are, but other times it’s a more nuanced process.

You generally never know who is your boss' ally until it’s too late to take back that nasty things you said. Instead of stirring the pot, find a way to make your coworkers dish to you about their interactions with your boss. If their experiences are similar to yours, you know you have a douche on your hands. Plan accordingly.

Speak up.

It’s possible that your disdain for your boss isn't even on their radar. Ask for some time to talk if they’re rubbing you the wrong way. By the end of your meeting (or meetings—it might take more than one), you should be able to determine whether or not it was all in your head.

Don't become jaded.

Walking around the office as a dark, passive-aggressive cloud is an obvious way to draw negative attention to yourself, but refusing to take part in office social activities or engage in non-work-related conversation with the horrible boss in question could have the same effect. People are perceptive, and a significant change in your attitude will likely be noticed.

Be proactive.

Don’t be that person bitching about your job without offering any actual solutions. Really look at how you could create a smoother work environment and figure out ways to resolve as many issues as you can. Your initiative will be impressive, and if your boss is at all insecure or egotistical, it could actually light a fire under them to not be so awful all the time.

Find someone to confide in.

You won’t hit it off with everybody. That's life. But in a setting where you have multiple supervisors, find one that you gel with to make your life a little easier. Maybe they’ll be able to talk some sense into their colleague, but avoid any obvious attempts to undermine your boss' authority.

Don’t take it personally.

Maybe a bad manager-managee relationship is partially your doing, but maybe it isn’t. Sometimes people just have terrible chemistry, and it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with you—​as a professional or as a person.

Once you clock out, don’t bring that angst home with you. The minute you let your boss affect how you feel outside of the workplace is the minute it has become a much bigger problem than it needs to be. Spend your time out of the office doing things that can help you manage your life better or blow off steam—volunteer, join a gym, find a hobby you love. Just don't sit and stew, thinking about how much you hate your job. You're better than that.

The only thing that pisses an aggravating boss off more is not having a bone to pick with you. Instead of coming in on time, come in a few minutes earlier. Get your work done with no errors, and you’ll irritate them in the best way possible.

Kill them with kindness.

Not literally. The best revenge is to be on your game. They ask you to do the most, so do it all—in the most annoyingly chipper and positive way. It’s so hard to hate a person who is genuinely nice and good at what they do.

Keep a record.

After your initial hunch that your boss is shady, start keeping a record of your interactions. If there is a laundry list of foul play, be prepared to shake it up. One or two petty occurrences can be overlooked. A pattern cannot. When you feel you have a strong enough case, take your evidence to human resources or the appropriate authority figure. In the event that the shit hits the fan, you’ll be well-served by having specific examples you can point to.

Ask yourself if it’s worth leaving.

At this point, figure out if you've been pushed to the point where you want to leave your job. Don’t make your grand exit until you have found something better. But, if shit is getting too real, get out of there. It’s just a job, and it’s not worth ruining your life over.

When you're officially ready to go, see if you can put aside some money from your last few paychecks to give yourself a cushion. You might feel miserable now, but you’ll be more miserable when you’re frantically firing out resume’s while calculating how many weeks of food you can afford.

Avoid burning bridges. Of course it would feel great to tell your boss to go fuck themselves on your way out of the workplace, like Guillermo Diaz in Half Baked. But the truth is, it will only make you feel good temporarily, and you might need a connection or reference from this job down the road. Even if you’ve had a terrible relationship, chances are that when you tell them you’re leaving, they’ll shake your hand and wish you the best of luck.