Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s hard to soar like an eagle when you work with turkeys”?
I’ve been hearing stories for an aspiring eaglet about one such turkey for a couple of months now. Her boss is a micromanager whose skills are limited, making it very difficult to work with her. What to do?
Some tips to keep in mind:
- She’s the boss.
She is in the power position; it’s your job to make her look good. As difficult as it may be to accept, you simply must do so while you work for her. If you think you can hide your resentment or annoyance, think again - emotions like these tend to manifest themselves making an already bad situation even worse.
- Make lemons out of lemonade.
It may be a challenge but if you try hard, you can uncover at least one thing you can learn from her. In the most extreme situations, much of what you can learn will fall into the category of “what NOT to do” but don’t give up until you find the thing(s) she does well too.
- Keep your feelings to yourself.
Resist the temptation to loudly broadcast your boss’s failings to anyone at the office who’ll listen. It’s unprofessional and it will come back to haunt you. Tell a friend instead, feel free to vent with no risk to your career.
These tips are useful while you are struggling to deal with the situation but the bigger picture question is, “Is your boss coachable?” If so, you can negotiate ways to work with her that will enable you to do your best work - and to get the credit you deserve for doing it. If not, then it’s time to change your situation.
TAGS: Being a team player, career cache, career derailments, coping skills, strategies for success
Yesterday, Thin Pink Line blogger Simone said she struggles with the balance between being a team player and taking on so much extra work that it undermines her. She also wondered if playing sports should be a prerequisite for women going into business. I recently read an article that said most girls who start off playing sports at a young age drop out by the time they’re teenagers. So in some ways we never really get all the lessons we need to learn about playing to win. Also, just this morning, I read that the female brain is wired to avoid conflict, so when we do play sports and inevitable conflicts arise we’re more likely to drop out than boys/men.
Here are a few tips for how to be a team player without being a door mat:
1. If you’re going to volunteer to take on extra work to show you’re a team player, make sure you let people KNOW you’re going out of your way. Don’t make it look seamless. Say something like, “I’m willing to take this on for the sake of the team” or “It’s going to involve more overtime than I want but if it means the team succeeds I’m happy to do it.”
2. Aim for high profile extra work. Sure, we all have to do grunt work now and then for which we get no credit, but balance that out by taking on extra assignments that put you in front of executive management or clients. Extra work of this nature provides you with an important showcase for your talents.
3. If you know you’ve been a team player who has taken on extra work and it’s now someone else’s turn, there’s nothing wrong with saying, “Given that I’ve worked the past few nights on the XYZ project, I believe it’s someone else’s turn to show their team commitment. I’m happy to take my turn again when it comes around to me once more.”
TAGS: Being a team player, high profile assignments, women in sports, women volunteering
