How To Deal With A Terrifying Boss
If you wake up every morning, hit the snooze button, and burrow further down under your covers, cringing at the mere thought of your boss’ voice, don’t fret, we’re here to help! You are not alone, and there are a lot of steps you can take to turn that fear into inspiration and make your situation less uncomfortable!
Let your boss inspire you to push yourself!
Don’t be scared. Instead, let your boss inspire you to push yourself! Turn your trepidation into motivation! Instead of cringing with fear, use each presentation, each panic-stricken deadline, and each one-on-one meeting to show off your skills and talents to your boss. No doubt he/she will notice, and recognize that you are capable of taking the heat. Appreciate that your boss’ terrifying approach is usually constructive criticism, and can be a sign that they care enough to push you to get better. Your success will improve your boss’ attitude and increase their respect toward you, and will make waking up for work every day a little bit easier!
Challenge yourself
Challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone. Push yourself past what is asked of you, and go above and beyond your job expectations. It will show that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done right, and most importantly, make your boss happy!
Listen, listen, listen
Listen, listen, listen and think before you speak – this will make your boss respect your opinion. Take the time to listen to everything your boss tells you, no matter how small the detail. They have a lot of knowledge to offer, so take it all in! Listening will allow you to jump in at just the right moment! That way, when you do speak up, your boss will listen and look to you for an informed opinion.
Focus on your work
Don’t let your fear or anger creep into your work. Despite any negative energy coming from your boss, it’s important that you concentrate on your job and performing to your best ability. After all, that’s the reason why you’re there. And hopefully you love what you do, so it won’t be hard to focus on your passions!
Be prepared and learn how to de-stress
It never hurts to be over prepared. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Always straighten out every detail of a project before you present it to your boss in order to minimize any conflict and reduce your stress and nervousness going into the meeting!
As you breathe that sigh of relief after that huge presentation, know how to de-stress! Schedule a few minutes afterwards to calm down and reflect before you start another project or go into a different meeting. And know when to leave work at work!
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
It’s a cliché, but it’s true; what doesn’t kill you make you stronger. Think back to any difficult time in your life when you hated a certain job, project, sport, or class and wanted to quit out of fear or frustration. But, you didn’t, and did you learn from it? Did it teach you anything about yourself, about the world around you? Most likely, yes.
It is often in the toughest of times that we learn the most about ourselves. So, no matter how negative or terrifying your boss may be, know that in the end, the experience will make you stronger. Stronger as a person, stronger as an employee and stronger as a professional in your respective field.