3 Ways to Connect with Your Socially Awkward Boss

By Rebecca Knight for Harvard Business Review | March 13, 2017

Everyone wants to have a good relationship with their boss, but it can be challenging to form a bond if your manager doesn’t know how to chitchat, won’t make eye contact, or occasionally says inappropriate things. There are strategies you can use to get past the social awkwardness and build a connection.

• Get to know him. It will take some extra effort on your end, but identify your boss’s hobbies, interests, and passions, and then make an effort to connect with him on those topics.
• Be helpful. Look for ways you can facilitate your boss’s interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Use your emotional intelligence to help your boss communicate with colleagues, translate his vision, and smooth out his rough edges.
• Offer perspective. Using empathy, gently provide feedback to increase his self-awareness. For example, you might say, “That comment may not be taken in the way you intended.”

Adapted from “What to Do When Your Boss Is Socially Awkward,” by Rebecca Knight