I recently turned 25 and my new age caused me to reflect a little on how far I’ve come. I landed my first summer internship at 15 and I have been working ever since, so you could say I have been in the workforce for 10 years right? Meaning I low-key have 10 years of work experience right? (In yo face Jobberman & other recruitment sites trying to put me in the 3-year box! #JustKidding). Over this decade I have amassed a wealth of knowledge on surviving in the workplace as a junior staff member and today I would like to talk to you about the plague that plights us – Horrible Bosses!

I’ve had my fair share of horrible bosses and I could go into detail and tell you some of my stories which I know will definitely be more entertaining but this is not why we gather here. When it comes to dealing with horrible bosses I have a few simple steps that I believe if you truly submit yourself to, you might find that you can actually survive even the worst of bosses.

Carry yourself in a manner that doesn’t allow people disrespect you. Are you doing the work? Are you being your best self? And it’s not just about arriving at the crack of dawn. Are you really delivering? Is there more you can be doing? Are you focused or are you always the one they find in the break room gossiping about how tight someone’s skirt is or how you low-key think some people are having an affair? Or even worse you give excuses like “I tried my best”. If this is you, then you can’t really blame your boss for coming down on you like a ton of bricks. Better fix up before you lose your job in this Buhari Economy.

If you are actually doing your job, but your boss has decided that you are his or her personal punching bag then you need to start working on how to detach emotionally. Yes I know this is easier said that done, I mean, how many people don’t take their work personally. But if you find that you are being bullied then you might have to just take a clinical approach and decide that your bosses opinion of your work is not going to be your source of joy and start looking for other things to bring you joy such as your family, friends or even the projects you are working on at work. Once you find a ‘sticks and stones may break my bones..’ approach to your boss, you might find that instead of feeling like crap 100% of the time, it shrinks to like 20-30%.

Yes! This is my personal fave! I just love messing with people that mess with me by killing them with kindness because 1, I am a Christian so I’m all about that ‘turn the other cheek’ life and 2. It really messes with people – like they start to think of all the nasty things they’ve done to you and start feeling bad about it (here’s hoping your boss isn’t a total sociopath). And I don’t mean suck up to the person, I mean be kind in & out of the office. So for example, your mean boss has a stain on her skirt and no one is telling her about it, you discreetly be a friend in need. Or you see him at a grocery store and his cards are fumbling, offer to pay. Look out for these opportunities to be the bigger person; they really help the power shift in your favour.

Don’t do it! As much as you want to, please don’t you ever do it. Don’t burn corporate bridges, unlike all other bridges, corporate bridges are a source of income, so you should always tread with caution and try to leave all bridges crossable.

Always have that at the back of your mind, it can affect your career but it cannot ruin your career. One person will never determine your success; no matter how many lies they feed you. I once had a boss that used to threaten us with bad recommendations and now looking back, that recommendation really isn’t worth squat in the grand scheme of things.

So you might be working for someone who is mentally unstable, meaning their irrational behavior is as a result of their illness not you, so stop trying to rationalize them and just pray for them and hope they find help. And if you really can’t handle it then it might be time to find a new job.

If all else fails and you are still under siege, you can always just pray about it.

So there you have it folks! They don’t wanna see us earn a living but we gon’ earn a gaddem living!