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?

The Team Doc Says…

I’ll just cut to the chase on this one. Since this has been going on for so long, I don’t see anything changing. You either need to decide to live with this behavior from your boss or move on.

But there is something you can do to keep yourself in the loop. And that lies with your team members. You should set up a regular schedule of meetings with your team to find out what new assignments they’ve been given by your boss.

Plus you need to institute a communication link from your team when he has assigned them work. Set up some guidelines that require your team members to notify you when your boss has tapped into them. That could be a voice mail, email, or a hop into your office to let you know.

So the key here is to control what you can (as long as you decide to stay in that job), and do your best to ignore the rest.

Do you have any additional advice reader? Please leave a comment.

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.

The Team Doc Says…
Well, perhaps she really is King of the world and your assumptions are all wrong.

It sounds like you have some real personal distaste for this person. That could very well be tainting what you are observing on a day-to-day basis.

So let’s talk facts here. This person is on the leadership team. Someone (likely the GM) felt this person was capable for the job at hand. You are not on the leadership team. You are not even part of her direct team. You feel it is your responsibility to show her she’s not as big a deal as she thinks she is.

Here’s my assessment. You need to get over this. It is not your responsibility to police this leader. You could go to your direct leader and explain (not complain) factually how her behavior is affecting your team’s performance, but that’s it. Ask for help resolving the issues that are occuring. You are wasting your time and your company’s time worrying so much about how this person acts.

If this obsession continues, it could very well derail your career with this organization. Do you really want that to happen? So you have two options. Learn to put up with whatever it is about her that is bothering you or move on and find a different job. Think about it.

What about you reader? Do you have other advice for this person? Please leave a comment.