How To Deal With A Boss Who Bypasses The Team Leader

My boss is a good guy with great intentions and a friend from many years back. I began working with him two years ago and our problem lies in him giving my staff assignments and work duties without even consulting me. He did so for a year-and-half, and then I got an opportunity to head another division which also came under his supervision, but in an industry that he does not master. After a few months in my new assignment he is doing it again, calling on my staff for information and asking them to report on matters related to current work and completely by-passing me. He does that once and sometimes twice daily. I usually find out from my staff that they’re working on something he’s asked them for. In the beginning I ignored it, then I tried to implement a system where we’re all on the same page – didn’t work, then I confronted him and explained to him he should maintain the chain of command and come through me when he needs information from my staff. Needless to say, nothing worked and this puts a lot of stress on me and my staff. I’ve got a Master of Science in management, worked in big and small organizations for over 25 years and everything I’ve learned tells me what he is doing is wrong. How do I deal with this situation? And, what can I do about it? [Read more...]

How To Fix Problems On The Leadership Team

Here’s the problem. Our team is about 10 people with 1 big boss (GM) and 2 Section Heads. One of the section heads is really bad, so bossy, everybody complains about her but she continues to act as usual. In one team building workshop, I was suggested to keep working well as long as she does not bother me. But what I really need to do is to show her, that she’s not the King of the world, so she cannot order people as if she is the Goddess. Do you have any suggestion what my colleagues and I must do to show her good way to be leader instead of boss? FYI, she’s not my section head but we share the same room so I know exactly what she does everyday. [Read more...]