However, fixed as your boss may be in his or her ways, you can always learn methods to manage them better. The secret is to “manage up”. Think of your boss as a difficult client, focus on being constructive and on keeping your cool. Remaining professional will help you to separate what your manager is actually saying from how it is being said. This can be very important in trying to improve your relationship. It’s also a good idea to try and find out what triggers his behaviour — this will help you to develop your own strategies for coping. Responding to an angry boss angrily will only aggravate the situation.
If you can communicate with your boss on a personal level, engaging with them on topics beyond work and looking for overlapping interests, this can do much to bring you closer to him.
Rethinking how you can better manage your boss — for all his flaws and shortcomings — can provide you with invaluable opportunities for developing executive leadership skills and learning what “not to do” when managing people who work for you. You just have to be proactive in looking for them and ready to practice some real self-leadership.