Dealing with a boss who's controlling, pushy or bullying can turn a pleasant working environment into a minefield. It can be hard to determine how to stand up for yourself without putting your job in danger. Don't let a bad manager take over your life; use these strategies to diffuse the situation and gain a little mutual understanding.
1# React to difficult situations in a professional manner, without getting emotional. If you get angry when criticized, you're giving your boss a chance to further target you. A manager on an ego trip will see a forceful employee as an opportunity to wield her power and influence. Just acknowledge the criticism and walk away; it will give you both a chance to calm down so you can bring up the incident later and rationally explain your feelings.
2# Evaluate your own performance. Make sure that you're doing your duties to the best of your capabilities. That way, you'll have a leg to stand on during confrontations. There may be warrants to your manager's criticisms that you haven't thought of.
3# Consider that your manager may not know he's behaving badly. A boss who seems to be abusing his power may just be insecure about his managerial capabilities. He may feel that he needs to bully his employees to get things done. If that's the case, realizing it might help you calm down a bit when dealing with him.
4# Look for good behaviors from your boss like clear communication or praise for a job well done and give her positive feedback. You don't have to stroke your boss' ego to make your working environment more pleasant, but complimenting her for positive actions may give her an incentive to do it more in the future.
5# Keep records of all communications between you and your manager. This will help protect you in case things get out of hand, and his ego trip turns into abuse.
6# Sit down with your manager to discuss your needs. Make it clear that you're doing the best you can, but his reactions give you the feeling he's not happy with your performance.
7# Ask him what he expects of you, and then tell him what you need in terms of support, direction and feedback. Don't be aggressive; it will just aggravate a control-freak supervisor. Approach him from an angle of willingness to improve your own performance and hopes for better communication between the two of you.
8# There is no one who is genuine, every one have negative point in his/her role, make use of that as your positive strength.
9# Look for another job if none of the above steps seem to produce a change. Some people are just incapable of realizing how their behavior affects others. Don't stay in a toxic environment where your self-esteem and work quality suffer.
