Your Bosses Are Going to Tick You Off

And that’s okay — what matters is how you respond.

One of my undergrad professors used to say the line, “If you love what you do then you’ll never work a day in your life,” jokingly followed by “…because no one will pay you to do it.”

You might hop around for various reasons, none the least for trying to find something passion-centric — or at least passion-adjacent. I’m all for that, and this isn’t an anti-hop diatribe.

But I will suggest one thing: Whatever your reason(s) for hopping, try not to do it because of your boss.

It’s inevitable, and I would know. I’ve had bosses tick me off, and I’ve been a boss who’s ticked people off. If you’ve never experienced this, I’d be worried for you. Over two decades I’ve hired and managed hundreds of people, and there have been several exchanges of strong words and heated moments.

I have no qualms admitting I was the reason for some of those moments. Managers tend to have good intentions, however, even the most seamless exchanges can be underpinned with attitude or nuance. That’s a gnarly space where tensions can fester.

In organizational life, everyone has a boss, and growing and developing a healthy relationship is dyadic — meaning employees and employers both play a dual (sometimes unequal) role.

And here’s a newsflash: if you’re someone who owns your own business or works solo, you have a boss too — you likely have several bosses, but you probably call them “clients.”

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