If you are like most people, you’ve had at least one new boss over the last several years. Heck, you may have had a revolving door of bosses – a veritable cornucopia of managers – and just when you get one you like, they are yanked from you like ripping a plush teddy bear from a toddler. I had a former student reach out to me several months ago with the complaint that she has had 5 different bosses over the last year! That’s practically a different boss every two months. Insanity. The real challenge comes in when you get stuck with a boss that you suspect doesn’t like you. Whether you think they secretly have plans to remove you or you believe that they simply don’t like your “style” (your attitude, your approach, or simply YOU), how do you cope?

This month is about dealing with “that boss.” Amongst other topics, we’ll be tackling the following important questions:

  • What are the signs your boss doesn’t like you?
  • Is your boss playing favorites? What can you do?
  • What are ways to get your boss to like you? What should you and what should you NOT do?
  • What’s your back-up plan if all else fails?

Getting stuck with a boss that doesn’t like you is no fun at all. The challenge is to figure out what’s going on, what you can do about it and getting yourself a back-up plan just in case you can’t sway his or her opinion of you.  If this dysfunction is hitting way too close to home for you, stay tuned.  Help is on its way.

And for a great example of what having a boss who doesn’t like you looks like, here is a wonderful clip from the greatest workplace movie of all time – Office Space.  Ah, the TPS report…