Why Would I Work for a Bad Company or a Bad Boss?

First of all, let me clarify – we talk about a bad company or a bad boss according to how we define “bad”, and whether or not we belong in a particular organization.

If you don’t belong or fit well in a particular organization,  there is no reason why you should stay there. Even if you’re paid a lot of money. The only possible and acceptable exception - which I hope  none of us has faced or would ever face in our lives – is when we have to stay because there is truly no choice. No choice because you absolutely need the job. Without it you cannot pay bills, buy food, support your family and your life. This should be the only reason why you would ever consider working in a bad place. By “bad” place I mean, of course, a job you don’t like, a company you don’t like, a boss you don’t like, colleagues you don’t like, etc. But even in these circumstances working at such a job should just be a temporary measure while you look for the job you would love to have.

Some assistants who have just started their career try to work in a prestigious company with a well-known person, and sometimes they don’t understand the price they pay. But the same goes for small companies and unknown executives – the issue will be the same. A good situation is if you really love your boss and the company. Even if there are some complicated situations, you simply don’t care about all these problems. Because you love your boss and your company, these situations don’t matter to you. You wake up in the morning and you’re totally happy because you want to go to work.

But, and there is a big but, if you are not comfortable because of the boss, or because of the company, and you don’t look for something else – it will become you biggest problem. When you work at a job where you truly don’t belong, where the atmosphere is uncomfortable, the challenge is you can start thinking that this situation is normal. This is something you must guard against because it is not normal and you should not consider it normal. If you accept the circumstances, which should not be accepted by default – the result could be that you get sick often, get stressed, or worse, you could fall into depression.

Many of us have forgotten that we should be happy at work. You should be happy in what you do, where you do it, and whom you work for. But, very often we’re afraid to take that step and check the market and try to find a better job. We try to convince ourselves that things are fine, we can handle it, we are strong, we can put up with the situation for another year.

Mentally, we accept the bad terms and are afraid to change something. A simple example: I would never work with someone who smokes. Good salary, good location? No, no, no! I cannot handle the smell of cigarettes. If I breathe it – I feel  unhealthy.

Working in a place where you don’t feel good about the job or the environment is bad for your mental health. Speak to psychologists. They will tell you that there is nothing worse than being in a place where you feel nervous all the time, it’s even worse than breathing cigarette smoke.

So other than the necessity I mentioned earlier, there is no reason to accept working somewhere where you are not happy. I have a lot of examples in my career when I meet assistants and they look very, very tired. They don’t look happy. They look as though they are barely surviving.

Work should be a very nice and attractive journey. Yes, we should learn how to work in different companies and with different people. And you should try. But, if you are sure it is not a good match – look for another job. Otherwise your work life will be one of trying to survive.

As Jan Jones, author of “The CEO’s Secret Weapon” told me, “You cannot do your best, most productive work if you are in an environment that doesn’t promote or support your mental and physical well being. If there are tweaks or changes that can be made to your workplace by discussing the situation with your boss, you should do so. You may be surprised to learn that they value you and would like to make the changes in order to keep you and improve the overall workplace morale. But if your efforts fall on deaf ears, you should consider making a move. Otherwise, your creativity and motivation will suffer and you may develop negative work habits. Low morale workplaces are simply not conducive to high performance.”

Ron Ashkenas, a coauthor of the Harvard Business Review Leader’s Handbook and a Partner Emeritus at Schaffer Consulting, wrote: “A good boss provides encouragement, development, mentoring, and support, while also being fair, constructively critical, and helpful in integrating employees into high-performing teams. This is a boss you remember for years, one who has a lasting impact on your career.

But what happens when you end up with a really bad boss – someone who not only lacks these positive characteristics, but is also a negative force? Do you just grin and bear it, complain to higher authorities, look for an escape route, or do something else? Here are two quick (disguised) examples:

Sheila was an up-and-coming manager at a well-known manufacturing company. Several years ago, she was asked to build and run a small team that would invest in start-ups aimed at bringing new technology into the company’s supply chain. Since this was a minor operation, Sheila’s supervisor, the head of Supply Chain, paid her very little attention. Eventually, her team built a portfolio that caught the interest of the CFO and the CEO, and soon she was meeting regularly with them. Unfortunately, Sheila’s success with the C-suite was met with jealousy and anxiety from her boss. For the next year, the boss turned down requests for more resources, gave her poor performance reviews, and spread the word that Sheila was “difficult to manage.” Eventually he moved the team away from Sheila and left her as an individual contributor.

Howard was a high-potential manager at a large life sciences firm. For the past two years he had led a well-regarded team of analysts who provided performance reports to business units. When a new head of Financial Planning and Analysis was brought in from the outside, however, Howard suddenly couldn’t do anything right. His new boss criticized the way things were done, belittled members of Howard’s team, created discord with the business unit heads (their clients), and refused to listen to anyone’s input. And when Howard tried to spend time with this boss and develop a more personal relationship, he was castigated for being “high maintenance” and someone who “needs reassurance” to do his job.

Obviously both of these cases are somewhat extreme (although I have many similar ones to draw upon). But they do illustrate how a bad boss syndrome leaves subordinates feeling trapped and intimidated, with nowhere to go. If Sheila or Howard complain to the next highest level, it could make things worse and reinforce the claim that she or he is “difficult to manage” or “high maintenance.” If they go to HR or an executive with their concerns, they could be branded as troublemakers or difficult subordinates. But if they do nothing, they will be miserable and lose the respect of their direct reports. It’s a tough dilemma.

Luckily, there are a couple of alternatives. They come with no guarantees, but they may be worth considering.

The first is to wait it out. Bad bosses can be like bullies who eventually get tired of harassing people, particularly once they realize that it won’t get them anywhere. The key is to keep doing a good job, while making sure that people above and beyond your level know that you are still performing. Most of the time, a boss’s bad behavior is visible to others, so hanging in there, without complaining, will be viewed positively. And over time, a bad boss may even self-destruct and lose credibility. In fact, that’s what happened to Howard’s boss, who was eventually marginalized by his own peers. Howard ended up with a bigger job in a different part of the organization.

The second alternative is to seek other options, both inside and out. Use the situation as an opportunity to reassess your career, your work-life priorities, and how you define success. When there are no catalytic situations forcing us to think about our trajectories, we stick to a certain path because it’s comfortable — even though it may not be optimal. Having a bad boss can force you to think about what you really want. In Sheila’s case, the turmoil that her boss generated pushed her to think about getting into the start-up sphere, using the contacts she had built over the years. In the long run, the bad boss liberated her to pursue another direction.

Nobody likes having a bad boss. But if you do, there are ways to survive.”

The picture was taken from Pivot Point Solutions, where you also can find some relative information.

Many thanks to Jan Jones for her kind help with the preparation of this article.