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My Boss Makes Stupid Mistakes!

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Sep 03, 2009
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My boss is a dolt.
by: Tim Keck

Jeremy,

First let me say that I can empathize. Many times in my career I worked for someone that I probably described in a way that wasn't nearly as kind as you just did. Within the first couple of years I began to say that "Mismanagement runs rampant in law enforcement" (my first career), and I was right. I would soon see that the same was true for most of corporate America as well.

Allow me to share some things I have learned over the years about dealing with that situation:

1. Learn everything you can from the person. Even an idiot has someting to teach you, if it's only how NOT to behave.

2. Analyze both what has made this person successful and what habits they have that don't serve them well. Knowing that could enhace your career.

3. Seriously consider going and having a talk with your boss about what happened. Go in calm, breathe deep and explain what went wrong in matter-of-fact terms. Be gracious and accept whatever your boss says (hopefully an apology) with class. You can find loads more helpful information about the topic of having hard conversation from the good folks at vitalsmarts.com. There you will locate books, training and even a free newsletter.

4. Take the steps to discreetly confirm what you need to know to make certain you don't find yourself in such an awkward position in the future. Keep trying to make your boss look good in spite of his room temperature IQ, but not at the expense of your own career.

My experience has been that you grow the most as a leader when you are in such a situation. Just keep you attitude good. You know what they say: Don't wish the situation was easier, wish you were better. And this will make you better if you let it.

Best regards,

Tim
tim@performanceinsights.net

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