Things Your Boss Secretly Hates About You

Hate is such a strong word; but just as you sometimes hate your boss – they hate you back for the annoying, thoughtless, obstructive things you do. Many times, they swallow their most base reactions and don’t tell you about them. If your boss is highly evolved, you may have heard some of these criticisms as feedback or in a counseling session. Assuming that your boss is a reasonable human being and a fairly good supervisor (a big assumption, I know), try to avoid these behavior pitfalls in the workplace:

When the going gets tough, your boss expects to see you exhibit a sense of urgency. Otherwise, they are afraid that you don’t “get it”. That important assignment with a time deadline requires you to scurry/make haste/haul ass. Why are you still standing there?

Please don’t put your future entirely in your boss’s hands, expecting them to orchestrate your career. You must articulate your own career goals. Your boss is neither your parent nor your guidance counselor. Stop looking at them with those big, trusting eyes. Carve out your own career and ask for the help they can reasonably provide to achieve the goals you have defined for yourself.

Hard and competent work will lead to rewards. When promoted, the last thing you can allow yourself is to take on an “I’ve Arrived” attitude and downshift to a lower gear. Learn that you must keep working hard to maintain your position and your reputation. Otherwise, you have proven to your boss that they made a mistake in judgment about you.

It can be valuable to offer a “Devil’s Advocate” perspective on a proposed approach to solving a problem. But nobody likes a constant hole-poker. Bring ideas and solutions to the table, not just more problems.

Your boss is often your mentor too. When you don’t appreciate that and verbalize your thanks, your boss wonders if their efforts are just trickling down a rat hole. That makes them wonder why they try.

A last bit of advice… Keep asking how you can work on your weaknesses. You may actually get some good advice.

If you liked this posting, you may also be interested in: Get Past the Hate.  It includes constructive ideas about how to improve relations with your boss.