Tired of losing your temper in the toilet just after a confrontation with your boss? Feeling underappreciated and overworked? It’s time to get control of your boss and improve your work situation. Here are some tips and strategies for attempting this brave feat. WARNING: not for the faint-hearted.

By taking control of your emotions you are already one-up on not only all other employees that you have been trying to ‘beat to the bonus’, but you have actually staked your claim on moving up into management territory. When you confront conflicts with a cool head, your words are more likely to flow out eloquently, displaying your level-headed intelligence and determination to meet any opposition that made rear its ugly head.

DISCUSS, DON’T CONFRONT
Put out fires with your newfound cool-headedness (not gasoline). If your boss criticizes you or your work, don’t react with your emotions. Emotional responses simply create a confrontational attitude which will backfire rather than tug at your boss’ heart-strings. Discuss their criticism as an issue that can be resolved. They obviously have their own ideas for accomplishing the specific task and so you can ask them for their advice on how your work can be improved.

PRAISE, DON’T CRITICIZE
It’s so much easier to criticize your boss and complain to other co-workers about how difficult your supervisor really is, but you’ll find proactive praising to be much more effective. By allowing the positive nature of praise to take its course, with a complimentary ‘job well done’ once in awhile, you’ll find yourself dealing with a more docile boss.

MANIPULATE THE MANIPULATOR
By asking questions, you can get to know your boss’ likes and dislikes, giving you the ammunition to fight future criticisms and actually duck right out of their critical path. Discussing possible ways to accomplish your job responsibilities opens the door to get a sneak peek at your boss’ perspective and expectations – before the task has commenced. Now you have all the information you need to properly approach each task to satisfy your boss’ every detail.

CALL ‘EM “BOSS”
– STICKS AND STONES WILL BREAK THE BANK
Understand that you can’t change your boss. Their upbringing, their choices in life, they can all vary greatly with yours. Knowing that your boss is simply difficult can help you to view their negative behavior as just that. Calling names behind your boss’ back may satisfy that little child in you for a few seconds, but instead labeling them as merely “your boss” avoids them from accidentally overhearing your cursing jabs, and avoids you from flaring your temper and possibly losing your job over just one stressful day.

DON’T GO UP THE CHAIN – DISCUSS AT EYE LEVEL
Sometimes it’s best to discuss discrepancies and dissention within the workplace directly with your boss. By avoiding ‘going up the chain of command’ to do your complaining, you can resolve your issues quickly and prevent your boss from feeling as if he/she has been backstabbed, as well as prevent other employees from considering you a whistleblower.

PAINT ON THE PROFESSIONAL FACE
Whether your boss is a jerk or not, it’s important that you know the difference between not liking your boss and simply not being professional. You must keep your professional face on and a positive attitude will more easily follow.

BE THE BEARER OF BOTH BAD AND GOOD NEWS
Try not to come to your boss with only bad news. Find the good news associated with it and you’ll have a much less grumpy boss.

DON’T BE A ‘YES’ MAN
No one likes a brown noser, and a boss always knows when you’re trying to get up the ladder with false compliments. Also, don’t try to be buddy-buddy with your boss – it can backfire. If your boss depends on you in his or her daily workplace, he/she won’t be too geeked to recommend you for a promotion in another department.

RESPECT BEGETS RESPECT
Always respect your boss’ time by holding small questions until a meeting. Never barge into their office expecting an immediate meeting. By showing respect to your boss, you will eventually be given that respect back two-fold: 1) Your boss will be in a better mood to deal with any disappointments that he/she may have with you and 2) Your boss will have more time to put out their own fires, rather than delegating every one of those fires to you.

HONESTY WILL EARN YOU TRUST
Crossing your every T and dotting your every I will help you to establish trust from your boss. When messages, spelling and facts in documents are sloppy and unfinished, you will surely get more work piled on your shoulders. When your boss sees that your work is complete and without error most of the time, you will gain trust and independence in your work place, free from the watchdog that may have hounded you in the past.

Which “TYPE” of Worker are You?

► Controllers – people who like to control things and introduce processes: produce more of the ‘now’ in the workplace.

► People-Oriented People – those who are mostly concerned with people and their workplace community: produce more impact on people.

► Goal-Oriented People – those who are more concerned with getting things done, tend to start with key actions.

► Idea-People – people who are creative and are mostly concerned with ideas, present work proposals in concepts.

If you are process-oriented as the “Controller” type of worker, you will present yourself and your work in an orderly fashion, systematically, with pros and cons, and in chronological order. If your boss is the action-typical “Goal-Oriented” person, he/she could get quickly bored with these systematic details. By knowing the type of worker that your boss is, you will have the advantage to prepare for his/her type of personality, avoiding unnecessary extra workloads that can occur when the different “types” of workers butt heads. SLV

Issue 46 featuring: Jeska Vardinski, Jana Cova & the "Happy" Feature