How to Handle an Angry and Demeaning Boss: Part 1

Understanding Angry and Demeaning Bosses

• 🎯 Angry and demeaning bosses are a common, albeit unpleasant, fact of professional life.
• ⚠️ While uncommunicative bosses may be more prevalent, angry bosses often scare people the most due to the emotional impact and the power imbalance.
• 💡 It's crucial to distinguish between a demanding boss who holds you accountable and a demeaning boss who resorts to personal attacks and unprofessional behavior.

Core Principles for Career Management

• 🔑 The first rule of career management is to never allow anyone else to dictate the speed of your career decisions, except in cases of external deadlines like job offers.
• 🚀 Bad bosses, especially angry ones, can pressure you into making rash career decisions; it's essential to maintain control over your decision-making timeline.
• 🧠 Making hasty career decisions, such as quitting impulsively, often leads to the worst career outcomes.

The Three-Part Strategy: Cope, Perform, Decide

• 🧘 Cope: This involves giving yourself space and time to remain cool and avoid impulsive reactions. It's okay to feel anger, but expressing it is never effective or smart.
• 📈 Perform: It's vital to continue performing your job effectively to build a strong resume and have results to show, regardless of your boss's behavior or potential termination.
• 🤔 Decide: After coping and performing, you gain the necessary time and space to make a deliberate career decision about whether to stay or leave, on your own terms.

Identifying Demeaning Behavior

• 🗣️ Yelling or raising one's voice is generally considered unprofessional behavior from a manager.
• 📛 Personal attacks and name-calling (e.g., calling someone stupid or lazy) go beyond critiquing work and are hallmarks of demeaning behavior.
• 👥 Demeaning others in front of colleagues is a particularly egregious form of unprofessionalism.
• 🚨 Threatening to fire someone frequently, especially without follow-through, can be a tactic used by angry and demeaning bosses.