Bid goodbye to tough love

Hollywood actress Amy Adams recently revealed in an interview that director David O. Russell reduced her to tears while shooting for the film, American Hustle. She further revealed that the director’s infamous temper, which was difficult for her to handle, left her devastated. Now it isn’t necessary that your boss should share the same temperaments or work ethics as you, but an effective working relationship ensures you don’t hate your job. In an ideal world, each one of us would be bestowed with a dream boss or mentor — someone who helped you grow and appreciated your efforts. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. So, what can you do if you are dealing with a difficult boss We get life coaches to share a few insights on how to manage the situation — or at least wade through your stint till you choose to seek another option.

Make that extra effort The first step is to review one’s action and behaviour. Is your attitude responsible for the rocky relationship with your boss Life coach Veechi Shahi states that the relationship with the boss is often critical to one’s career growth and success, and hence it is important to work on this relationship. She adds, “It takes experience and understanding of human behaviour to build an effective relationship with your boss. Bridge the gap by addressing your doubts, vulnerabilities and confusions. Work on your self-confidence and you will know when to listen your boss and not to compromise on your self-worth, when things get rough.”

Deal with your ‘practice partner’ Life coach Milind Jadhav states that it would help to see things from the boss’s perspective to make life easy. He says, “Your boss says what he says and does what he does because at any given moment, he thinks that is the best way to get the job done. Bosses, like most important people in our lives, are practice partners. If your boss is aggressive and you can’t handle it, then you must practice dealing with aggressive people; and the perfect person to practice this is on is your boss!”

Adapt to your boss’s preferences This doesn’t mean becoming a yes man. Life coach Khyati Birla says that working with your boss’s behavioural style and preferences is a sure-shot way of addressing the issue. She says, “Understand how your boss communicates in stressful and easy situations. Understand how his/ her behaviour changes from context to context and remember how your boss behaves in certain situations. Be prepared to work on it. It’s always in the best interest to have a positive relationship with your boss. But do not become a yes man. Your company depends on you for the skill set you have.”

Speak up Typically, it is easier to remain silent than have an awkward conversation with your boss addressing your concerns. But life coach Chetna Mehrotra says that resolving the problem with the boss is better than brooding over it. She says, “If you feel that you or your perspective has been disrespected in any manner, it is important that you voice your feelings. List the needs that were unmet in that incident. This discussion will make things easy to relate to for the employer and for your self too. It will tell the both of you what you need to avoid in the course of working together.”