This Week’s Work Problem: Managing up when your boss can’t lead 👀
You can't fix an incompetent boss, but you can stop letting them dictate your sanity.
Hey y’all!
If anyone follows me on other platforms, you know I talk about bad bosses quite a bit. Some of the most trying (and significant) times of my career have been spent navigating a bad boss.
Let’s just say it out loud: Not every manager deserves to be a manager.
Most of us are taught that leadership problems can be solved with better communication, more feedback, or stronger relationships. Sometimes, that’s true.
But other times, the person above you is completely disorganized, changing direction constantly, doesn’t understand how the work gets done, and creates more problems than they solve. When that happens, middle managers often become translators, therapists, and damage control specialists all at once.
The situation:
I manage a small team, and for the past year, my boss has constantly changed direction, assigned work that doesn’t belong to our group, and thrown projects at us with little clarity on ownership or priorities.I’ve done my best to shield my team from most of it, but it’s left me working long hours and feeling completely overwhelmed.
Recently, my team sat me down and told me that I’ve seemed stressed and unavailable lately. They also said something I’ve been thinking about for a while: My boss doesn’t seem to understand who is responsible for what, and the constant shifts in direction are making everyone’s jobs harder.
The frustrating part is that they’re right. So how do you manage when your boss is the source of the confusion, and how do you keep leading your team without losing your mind in the process?
