Help! My Boss Hates People!

“I just don’t know what to do with myself … If I look at my performance through my manager’s eyes, I feel like I fail at everything I do. From my own perspective I feel like I am achieving better results than I could have ever imagined. When I talk to my friends they all agree with me. I have tried to talk to him so many times and nothing ever changes – help what do I do?”

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you looking for the best way forward? Are you a boss on the flipside of the coin? If only they would stop talking long enough for you to tell them how pleased you are with their performance.

This doesn’t have to be such a tricky situation; a healthy dose of self-awareness may be all it takes. It could be as simple as recognising the different personalities on your team – we all think differently, after all. A melting pot of opinions and ideas is a powerful ingredient in creating sustainable, high performing teams, but we also know that unless these differences are respected the team could end up in conflict. This could spell a real dip in performance.

If you’re the boss, you don’t need to be a big ‘people’ person to be a great leader, you just need to become more aware of your thinking. Be more flexible in your leadership style rather than allowing your habitual response to rule the results.

If you’re the person not getting the recognition you deserve, conversely try to change the way you behave and express your opinions so you can try to anticipate what your boss is looking for. It could be:

• Facts, figures – empirical evidence
• Plans, details and no risk
• Engagement, empathy and a consensus driven approach
• Innovation, creativity and oodles of fun.

By becoming self aware and tuning into the needs of the other person, you earn the right to talk in your language and to start getting the results you both want.