Introduction
If you like a challenge and want to succeed against all odds, then this is for you. And your almost ex-boss!
Employers want to get rid of bad personnel and more often than not attribute their bankruptcy to the failure of their staff. This can be the case, but from the experience of many people and also of me it is often the employers themselves who have spread the fleas. They have and are getting paid to be responsible or not?
Bosses also make mistakes
Your employers are the boss, which does not automatically mean that they are the best workers in the workplace. Quite often the opposite is true! Often the bosses are the bad apples in the basket, for example.
Because they are using double standards, sexually harass, give a bad example, engage in nepotism, are inconsistent, are not pure to the bone, just make bad decisions, and/or do have no leadership and do not know how to deal with people (employees are in fact, people!). So many companies have to deal with a sick atmosphere caused by the boss because the boss failed to act or failed to act properly.
Take action
Therefore, countless workers fantasize about getting their boss fired, but few succeed. So how to get your boss fired? I will follow up with some success stories and then indicate what you can do in order to have the biggest chance of succeeding against the odds.
And if you are already fed up with your boss or bosses, you can become your own boss. Check out my perfect solution at the bottom.
It is not an easy thing to do, but not impossible!
I have researched a lot of stories on the internet and although I gathered a handful of success stories, they all have one big warning in common: think many times over before you try it, because you will likely fail.
Organizations are power hierarchies, and your boss is automatically one level up from you. All of these situations come down to one thing: what is the leverage you have. If you declare war on your boss, 90% of the time you’re going to lose because your boss has more leverage than you do. Think of what leverage you might have or be able to get.
So, here are some success stories.
Success story 1
There was a lady, who came in as the new director of a university office with 20 employees. She was following in the footsteps of a much-loved boss and quickly developed a reputation as a very difficult manager. People in the department soon started quitting. Four left, and others became disgruntled and wrote letters to senior officers at the university. Taken to task by the university, the boss ended up taking a leave and then did not return to her job.
Success story 2
A forceful salesman was promoted to serve as a Director for the top sales group at his chemical company. He opted to perform the job by tagging along with team members on sales calls and then constantly critiquing their performance. He made people really annoyed at him.
The aggravated employees started calling the new boss’s boss to complain. But they didn’t just say they were unhappy. They spelled out how he was interfering with their work. The group’s approach was effective, because taken together, each of the five employees’ strong track records gave them the leverage they needed. They also made a convincing business case: the manager was driving down sales. The management let him go.
Success story 3
A major insurance company with its headquarters in one place and a human resources office in another that ran by its own rules. The main office wanted the branch to get in line with corporate practices but its head preferred to do things his own way. The department’s number two started charming himself with his superiors in the main office and modified his own work to be in line with the central office.
How he could do that without aggravating his boss, the story did not tell. When the company had to cut costs, it laid off the head of the division and kept the number two, who had proved he could do a better job at running the department.
Success story 4
The new head at a mid-sized technology company was a technical genius but totally lacking in management skills. He turned everyone off, including customers. Morale started plunging and employees began to grumble. But they did not let this happen without a fight and they reached out to members of the company’s board, laying out how the guy dampened motivation, wrought havoc with teamwork, and drove customers away. It took a long time, some three years, but the board finally let this person go.
Success story 5
An experienced math and statistics professor at a junior college felt he was being “persecuted” by a new dean, despite having job security and being well-liked by students. The professor collected evidence carefully, documented the dean’s attacks on him and others in his 12-member department, and approached the college’s chancellor and members of its board.
Three of the professor’s colleagues felt so berated by the new department head that they had emotional breakdowns and sought psychiatric help. The professor prepared a report that laid out the extent to which the department head was costing the college money. One of the colleagues filed a harassment suit, and students were becoming discouraged. The college let the department head go.
So, how to be a winner?
Story 1:
Don’t hand the management or even human resources a fist full of scribbled cocktail napkins and Post-It notes. Transfer your written notes into a typed, neatly prepared report. If you have receipts or other DVD or photographic evidence, present them in a binder or folder. Making a professional presentation will send a message that this is serious and goes well beyond your boss just having a bad day.
Story 2:
Strength in numbers, take the divide and conquer approach because two heads (or more) are better than one. For example, if you’ve been the butt of numerous sexist jokes, confide in a trusted same-sex colleague to see if he/she has experienced something similar.
Story 3:
Look for alliances where your boss is weak. Of course, when you cannot find these or when your boss has covered all his options, this will be an uphill task.
Story 4:
Persistence and patience can pay off, but it may take years. Even in a slam-dunk situation where the boss has been blatantly violating numerous codes or violations, your manager may not go away overnight–or even at all. The boss may know what you’ve been up to (or may suspect) so he/she may have already tried to cover evidence or cook up a story that would prove you wrong. In the event that it looks like your manager may not get fired, consider if you can continue to work at the company or if you would be better off working elsewhere.
Story 5:
Keep your emotions in check, and lay out a case that details how the boss is costing the company money. Try to leave emotion at the door when you meet with human resources. Especially if your boss has been abusive or hurling racial slurs your way, try to divorce yourself from the situation and approach it as if you are presenting the material on behalf of someone else.
Don’t name-call. During the meeting, be as professional as possible. Never say that your manager is simply a “bad person” or “evil,” but instead lay out the facts and your report in a calm, confident manner. Let them draw the conclusions themselves.
Conclusions
Contrary to common belief (the boss is always right), there are several possibilities to beat your boss. The above examples illustrate this abundantly. However, what if none of the above will work in your case? If you can’t think of a business case against your boss, then you probably just have a personality case, and you’d better get over it or you better find another job!
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If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment box and I will get back to you within 24 hours.
I’m older then the new boss and she’s just trying to make me look bad. I’m better then her and have been here longer. How can I make her feel intimidated?
Thank you,
Michelle
Hi Michelle, the fact that you are older than your boss does not help you very much. That you are more experienced does however have an impact, as it might be the reason that she is apprehensive of you or sees you as a danger to her position. So, intimidating circumstances are already present. I think that intimidating her as a deliberate act from your side is not advisable. You might want to look in the mirror and ask yourself, why she got the job and not you. I do not know if you did already, but a straight, business like talk without emotions, might take away some possible misunderstandings.
hi there. i need to make a complaint . i worked as a Care casualty PCW/PCA in aged care for nearly seven month. i never had any problem. but i called in sick twice. so my boss send me a letter that i don’t have to go back to work . she didn’t ask me for medical Certificate i tried to explain to her but she didn’t ever listen.. she told me she thinks she cannot rely on me anymore.. i have done anything else. i feel bad…
I am sorry for you. It is a bit difficult to judge why this happened to you. Seven months is a relatively short time, however, did you pass probation (if there was one)? I am not sure in which country you are living, but in many countries you will enjoy some protection once you have passed probation. Was this your first job and if not, how well are you experienced? Can I also take it that your sicknesses were not for a longer period?
If there is an HR you can request to talk to them about your situation.
I’ve been on the both side of employment before and let me share my fair opinion. There are both good and bad bosses as there are for employees.
Quitting a job and starting a business just because you don’t want to work for a boss could actually backfire. Your customers who ultimately define your paycheck are quite similar to your boss. If you can’t deal with one unruly boss, how do you expect do deal with possibly a handful of bad customers?
Hi Kenny, I see what you mean, but actually there is a little bit more to just starting your own business. Unlike working for a boss, you will make your own decisions, you do not need to follow orders on a day to day basis, you have no 9-5 job anymore and do not forget that what I am proposing is a chance to work from home or anywhere with a table and an internet connection! Dealing with your boss is exactly what my website is all about, but I am also giving a way out, when dealing with your boss is becoming absolutely impossible.
Great article, especially for those people who don’t want to have a boss. Well actually, right now I don’t have a job and somehow feel fearful of applying for one. If I were in that situation though, I would just plain leave. It’s much simpler to do. And don’t feel like a quitter when you do so because you’re just doing the right thing.
My resolve after leaving my job is to start working for myself and becoming a self-employed person, so I joined Wealthy Affiliate.
That is indeed the idea here. Firstly to let people know there is always a way out and secondly to hand them a suitable way to do so. Working for a boss can be very strenuous at times and there is no shame in doing something about it. Leaving from a job by yourself is not an easy thing to do, but you can soften the pain by having an alternative. One of these alternatives is Wealthy Affiliate as you mentioned. One of the beautiful things of them is that you can start at any time and put in as much work as you feel necessary or have available. You can commence this while still having a job. Would it not be nice that at one point of time you can go to your boss and tell him you have had just about enough and are going to work as your own boss?
Haha this is an interesting article, at least to me it is. I don’t think bosses would share the same opinion though. The best part about not having a boss is not having to put up with all the crap you would typically get at the workplace. Some bosses have zero leadership skills and couldn’t care less about the morale of their workers.
All they know how to do is bark orders and throw enough blame to last a lifetime. One thing I learned from a friend recently though is with solidarity, any boss can be humbled at least and fired at best. If one person has the boldness to speak up and others feed off this person’s confidence, the boss is definitely going.
Hi Medu, many people suffer under bad leadership, sometimes they do not even know it. But for all of you, who do know and realize what is going on, just know that there is always a way out. Indeed, if you can get your fellow workers on the same page, your chances of changing an adverse work situation will improve considerably. You might find a listening ear with your boss or if this doesn’t help his boss. In some cases HR might be able to help, although I would not hold my breath.
If nothing else, it is ultimately you who have to do something, especially when your health could be suffering. This site initially offers awareness of what can happen on the work floor and wants to be a guide for everyone who suffers from bad bosses and wants a way out!
It’s pretty powerful what people can do as a group. If a boss is not doing his job and supporting his employees, they have every right to do so. I liked thought at the end how you promoted WA because that way, people could just work for themselves and not have to worry about firing their bosses! ha
Yes, I tried to make exactly the point of the power of a group. Mind you, it will still not be easy to get the whole group on your side, as they will realize that they will go against their boss. It would be virtually impossible if your boss would have a divide and conquer tactic as well, meaning that he would be nice to some and act differently towards others. Whatever the situation, people should never let it adversely affect their health. If you see no chance to get want you want, you better take the consequences and change jobs or start for yourself, which is less difficult than people think. The professional support of WA makes this an opportunity that is possible for almost everybody!
Great article!
And a very interesting one that you don’t see everyday. Many other websites out there are obsessed with pleasing management and so on.
But if the supervisor really is a bad boss, then its comforting to know that there are actions that can be taken to alleviate the situation.
I like your use of examples, it really helped drive your point home.
I am trying to drive home that the saying ” the boss always wins” is not always valid. True, most times management will hold together in order to maintain the structure, but we still have ways to circumvent this. If you follow the guidelines given throughout this site, you will surely be better off, even if it means you need to change jobs/companies or start for yourself. Everything is better than to stay and hope for improvement that never comes to the point that your health will be affected as well.
Wow, nice page you have there. I can relate to this article of your’s not because I’m an employee but my wife is. Every time she comes home from work she is always angry with her boss.
Because of it I have planned on writing a diary every single day about the things that happened to the store and what her boss has been wrongly doing. Than we will send it via email to the higher positioned guys. LOL
Starting a diary is a good thing and also think about evidence you might want to bring in, such as documents, pictures, video’s. Ensure that the case you will bring forward is not one of personal aversion, but a business case, proving that her boss is adversely affecting sales, treats customers in a bad way or something like that. Ask your wife if there are other colleagues in the same situation (finding strength in numbers). Let me know if you need some specific advice. Cheers, Jerry