How to survive a toxic boss

Karl Marx said that “the worker needs respect more than bread.” Fortunately, this is no longer as reliable a reality as the thinker’s statement… in much of the planet. Nevertheless, The toxic boss continues to be a very common figure in the current panorama.

What do we mean when we talk about a toxic boss? We refer to those Powerful characters who believe they have the right over our lives. People who consider themselves beyond good and evil and use all kinds of resources, sometimes not legal, to maintain control over the employee.

When we talk about toxic bosses, we are referring to unfair leaders who can even make you hate the profession you love so much. However, these types that can make us lose sleep have weak points and today we are going to show them to you.

Types of toxic bosses

The first thing we will do is establish the types of toxic bosses we can encounter. Only by being able to identify them can we reject their negative influence. To do this, we base ourselves on the work of the writer Vijay Nair, “The boss is not your friend.”

Vijay Nair infuses his work with a powerful sense of humor, without losing rigor in his work. This writer successfully dissects the most deplorable leaders of India’s business organization chart. And that is why we have focused on his writing, because without laughter, it is more difficult to digest these situations.

The climbing boss

For Nair, there are 5 main types of toxic bosses. The most curious and common is usually the climbing boss. This character is easy to identify, because It is his habit to take over the good ideas of others. But it doesn’t stop there: in addition to his inability, he often blames employees for their own mistakes and inefficiency.

The insecure

Another type of toxic boss is the insecure supervisor. This kind of leader He usually looks for a clique of allies to follow him wherever he goes.. He uses these followers as monitors of what is happening around him since he fears that the employees he is in charge of could turn against him at any moment.

The workaholic and the lazy

Now we go with two types of toxic bosses that are part of the same continuum, we could say that they occupy opposite extremes. On the one hand we have workaholic, a character who has no life beyond the office and pretends that your existence is the same. Opposite him, on the other hand, we find the lazy person, who will always expect you to do your job and also his.

The arrogant

Finally, We have a very common fifth type of toxic boss, the arrogant bossy one.. You will never hear people with this profile ask for an apology, because they are incapable of making mistakes. In addition, they do not usually listen to anyone but themselves.

How to deal with a toxic boss

We have taken the first step. We already have useful information to identify the toxic boss. This detail is important to know how to deal with these profiles. Now, what can we do so that it does not affect us directly and personally? Follow these tips:

Never get involved personally. Furthermore, you should not react to abuse, criticism or injustice emotionally. If you remain calm, avoiding confrontation and with a hieratic attitude, it is possible that he will look for another focus of his anger.Go to your supervisor if the situation persists. That is, instead of confronting, go to him. She tries to understand him and know exactly what he wants. If you know what he expects from you, it will be easier for you to please his demands.Don’t think that you can change a toxic boss. Generally, they are conflictive people both in the work and personal environment. Thus, you will not be able to make him change his attitude, so you only have to navigate the turbulent waters of his ways.Remember that your boss is not your friend. So, let him act as he wants, but this should not prevent you from being professional. Do your job to the best of your ability and behave like an educated and capable person.

3 extra keys to dealing with toxic bosses

Also, keep in mind that:

It’s good to have everything documented in writing.. So, collect emails and papers that will one day be very useful if the conflict escalates.In your personal life, enjoy and forget about work. It is a very complex exercise, but also necessary. Outside the office, abandon work problems. If not, you will only make your life hell.

If none of this has worked, there is one last option: leave your job.. If someone makes your life impossible and has become your reality for 24 hours, for mental and physical health, forget about that job, because the situation will always get worse.*

These keys from Vijay Nair can be very useful to be able to do our job without a toxic boss affecting us too much. If one day you find yourself in any of these situations or with these characters, don’t hesitate to put them into practice!

*Editorial note: We know that the labor market is not in a position to leave a job at the first opportunity. If you cannot do so for financial reasons, what we recommend is that you start looking for a job while you continue working. This solution is much more effective than daily complaining, since you yourself will be actively trying to get out of that situation and feeding a thread of hope.

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