5 Tips for Dealing with an Egotistical Boss
If you are working with an egotistical boss, you will undoubtedly be looking for a way deal with them. Narcissistic bosses can be extremely frustrating to work under, and often end up driving away lots of employees. However, if you’re looking to stay with the company for an extended period, you will have to learn how to deal with your egotistical boss.
An egotistical boss is not someone that simply pushes you hard to get the best out of you, or acts in a way that seems to advance their own interests; that’s just good business. An egotistical boss is one that seeks to put others down for their own gain, takes credit from others, created high stress environments, bullies, and generally destroys morale if it means someone will give them a compliment.
5 Ways to Deal with an Egotistical Boss
A narcissistic boss will do anything and everything to self-promote. That means they will lie, cheat, put others down, take credit for other people’s work and anything else that they think will work in their favor at the moment.Here’s how to deal with the stress and potential damage that may do to you:
- Stay Calm – The best piece of advice we could give is to not stoop to their level. Don’t try to fight fire with fire by sabotaging your boss or seeking revenge in any way. If you get angry, you have to control it and not act on it.
- Have a Meeting – Sometimes, it may be possible to remedy the situation by simply voicing your feelings. If you think that there’s a chance that the problem could be fixed with a conversation, set a meeting with your boss and let them know that you feel their behavior is detrimental to your career and mental wellbeing.
- Don’t Feed the Ego – Most narcissistic bosses love affirmation and flattery. You may be tempted to feed them compliments thinking they will start doing right by you. However, narcissistic bosses are a lot like seagulls. If you feed them a piece of bread, they keep swooping by your head more and more aggressively until you give up the whole loaf.
- Learn the Triggers – If your boss has any triggers that always result in angry meltdowns or passive-aggressive revenge plots against you, maybe don’t pull those triggers. Things will happen, and a narcissistic boss will likely find something to use against you, but do your best to give them as little as possible.
- Forge Other Relationships – Look at other people you work with to find a friend and mentor that can give you career advice and make for a decent reference down the line if needed. This person may even be able to help mitigate some of stress from an egotistical boss.