Right Job, Wrong boss! …..What should I do?

My name is James Chen.  I work in a pretty promising industry, Financial Software. I am a GM of one of the top 5 in the world and we provide cool products & service to our customers.   Not ideal package, but good enough to hang me here.  My only problem now is that my boss, the GM of Asia Pacific, has lots of opinions about how I should run my show, and sometimes give straight “command” about what I should do, even though it can be really impulsive or not reasonable.  I made a firing decision based on his command last week.  Now it  backfired, and he is pointing his fingers towards me.. ah... what should I do?

Dear James,
Before I share with you my 5 golden steps how to deal with it, you need to do one most important & fundamental thing- which is to simply expect your boss to be that way.

This isn’t to say that you should run around thinking the worst of people. However, there are some people who are going to do what they are going to do, no matter how many problems it causes for other people. Be ready for it on a mental level. Even chaos, anarchy, and negativity aren’t as bad if we are ready for them. Often, just being ready for something will limit the negative effect that it has on us.

If you can do this, then you are ready to start the journey of my 5 golden steps of how to deal with wrong boss!
Tell him!  This is how..

Believe it or not, many people who are chronically irresponsible don’t realize the depth of the chaos that they leave in their wake. It’s going to be tricky for you to teach your boss about how to be responsible members of society, but that doesn’t mean you can’t point out that he has caused a problem due to his behavior. Please be aware, you need to identify, pin-point “specific behaviors” that you like them to “stop or start” instead of “making judgment about how irresponsible their behaviors are.”  Basically, package the situation as you are a small potato who is try to do a great job, and you need his help!  This can be a good opportunity for him to demonstrate that “he can be a cool boss by helping you become more successful” by modifying some behaviors that might stop you becoming successful!

If this doesn’t work, you can try “2”
Minimize his involvement
Sometimes the best defense is a smashing offense! If your favorite irresponsible boss is going to cause problems despite your best efforts, simply remove him from the equation.
Fill their normal slot in your endeavors with someone else before they get a chance to get involved. Keep a tight lid on the details about your upcoming adventures.
Even if the irresponsible person finds out, that doesn’t mean that you need to suddenly gush about all of the details, thus allowing them to possibly slip in at the last minute.

If this still doesn’t help, you can try “3-6”
Taking this as a “speed self-upgrading” opportunity. 
What you would have done if you were him?  Think about this question and try to act like a great boss for yourself.  Demonstrate that in your own team. Take their accountability even when it’s not reasonable or not fair. It might sound stupid or silly to start with, but trust me. Train yourself hard.  And you will find out you become more creative and influential.

Build up internal exposure in the higher level
Create a project or volunteer yourself to a challenging project that no one wants but your boss’ boss really values.  Take the hot potato from your boss and work your ass off to make it happen!  In the process, you will start to get familiar with strategic mission, resources, network and decision-making process that is required in your boss’ level.  And you will be able to comprehend and function effectively at your boss’ level.  The ultimate goal of this step is to create a “turn-around” reputation internally, and most importantly, make yourself seen, known & wanted!

Find him a better job
If you have achieved step 4, congratulations! Now you can enter the most exciting stage.  Go to Linked-in find your boss’ career history.  Then, contact top 3 headhunters in your industry.  Tell the headhunters how great your boss’ career history is and encourage them to include your boss in their hunting list.  As soon as your boss find other cool jobs with even less “responsibility,” he would probably leave you without a blink.
Promote yourself as the “Right Boss”

If you do “Step 3-6” right, you should have 50% of the chance to be promoted.  And it will be your chance to demonstrate what a “right boss” you are!
If you are still not ready, you would probably need to wait and see if next boss is right??  If you think  you are really unlucky because most bosses you encountered are not right for you,  I think you should seek the strategy within.  The problem might be you then!

Good luck!
Wendy

 

Wendy Wu,CEO of  New Leaders Group
Founder of 6 seconds China- world’s most authoritative EQ research and development instituteIn the past 10 years, she has been focusing on leadership development consulting, had helped world and nationally renowned companies with Succession Planning, Talent Audit & Management, Re-Organization Strategy, Evaluating Talent Investment solutions.Beginning in 2010, Ms. Wu periodically answer various questions raised by readers of Fortune China regarding their careers and life. We welcome any reader to contact us with their questions, our email is JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING . You can also log in on www.fortunechina.com and raise your questions.