It’s no secret that your manager can make or break how you feel about your job. In fact, according to Gallup, employees will voluntarily leave a job because of a difficult manager. Further, having a bad manager doesn’t just affect how you feel about your job. It can also affect your health.
"Having a bad manager is often a one-two punch: Employees feel miserable while at work, and that misery follows them home, compounding their stress and putting their well-being in peril," according to Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Manager report.
Regardless of whether your boss makes you feel miserable or inspires you to work harder, “everyone needs to manage their boss,” says Nancy Halpern, a leadership advisor in New York City. Most employees believe their boss should be managing them but, in reality, learning how to manage your boss will make you a happier and more effective employee, Halpern says.
“You might think you can do your boss’s job better than he or she can but those judgments can often lead you to bad behaviors such as dismissing their suggestions or not listening to their directions,” she said. Here are 14 strategies for managing your boss in common workplace situations.