Vital Reading: How To Get Along With Your Boss

We’ve long been, thankfully, out of the game when it comes to “working for the man.” (It is a glorious lifestyle, one we heartily recommend.) So when people come our way asking for advice on how to handle certain work situations they may encounter in the office, our advise pretty much consists of “Watch Michael on The Office and do the exact opposite.” Luckily, the folks over at Men’s Health have put together a little piece detailing one of the worst scenarios to encounter in the world of office politics: what to do when your boss hates you.

“But can you really do anything if the boss-man hates you? Isn’t the only thing you can do is just hope the boss wises up and stops hating you?”

No. Not really:

The burden of managing a rotten–or more likely, just strained–managerial relationship falls on the employee. So even if your boss is 95 percent to blame for a situation, 95 percent of the responsibility for solving this problem is yours. It requires a fine melange of personal skills, drawing on your vast experience, moxie, and sagacity.

The piece then goes into detail on how exactly to approach this awkward problem. In short: (1) Wait it out; (2) Be the bigger person; (3) Develop a strategy for doing your job better. (See? It’s probably best to read the entire thing instead of just using our Cliff Notes.)

Our advice, by the way? Quit your job and begin freelancing! It’s great, as long as you don’t need a consistent income, health care, or the camaraderie that comes with working with a bunch of people towards a single goal!