Leadership and Caveman Joe

The funny thing about leadership is that even when people aren’t educated about it they can tell when someone doesn’t have it.  They instinctively know.  This probably is due to some sort of survival instinct left over from the cave man days that allowed us to understand that it probably wasn’t a good idea to follow just any Caveman Joe into battle with 14 saber-tooth tigers wearing a flimsy loincloth and armed only with a rock.  Unlike then though, Caveman Joe signs our paychecks, he does our reviews, he is our boss, the CEO of the company, etc… he is constantly showing up in situations where we feel we have little choice as to whether we follow him or not.  So we suck it up… and we follow… sort of.  Well, while you struggle with figuring out your escape plan with your job here are 10 pieces of advice.  

1. No one is ever a complete loss.  Chances are your boss does have some strengths to him which are worth identifying and learning from no matter how small.  Find these traits and try to benefit from having access to them.

2. No matter how bad the boss, you are still learning valuable things from the experience….even if it is only PATIENCE.

3. Don’t let yourself get down.  If you feel like you are learning bad habits from your boss surround yourself with positive material.  One of my favorite books about leadership that I recommend for this is The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell.

4. Frustration and anger can be a good catalyst for positive changes in your life.  It can empower you to start that business you always wanted to… it can entice you to be smart about your finances… it can help you make lifestyle changes like going to the gym or daily meditation to handle your stress.

5.  Just because your boss is a bad leader doesn’t mean you need to be.  Do what you can to keep your morale up at work.  Negativity is very contagious and will only result in surrounding you with a more bleak environment and will weigh on your self-esteem.

6. There are always going to be difficult people in the work place.  Consider this a great way to practice your people skills.  Learning to communicate and work with your boss can really hone your social skills. I know this may sound a little over-the-top, but I have found this piece of advice to be extremely helpful in my career.

7. How you deal with things in times of adversity speaks volumes about your character.  Make sure you do your best everyday and have nothing to hide even though you may feel unhappy about the way things are.   

8. More than 50% of the time a bad leader will end up hanging himself and you wont have to make a peep.  If a leader is making fundamental mistakes repeatedly, sooner or later they will just naturally catch up with him and he’ll have to learn the lesson. 

9. Take a little time to think about what type of work stresses your boss has to deal with.  Are there ways you can make life easier for him?  Sometimes by just being helpful you can “lead” the leader into better behaviour.

10. Put energy into other relationships at work.  Spending time with friends at work really does help keep to keep a decent attitude and makes it easier to cope with stressful situations.

In closing….

In general, things probably wont change with Caveman Joe.  He’ll still probably try to lead you off a cliff into the tar pits… but you can control how you deal with it.  Try to keep a positive attitude and really decide if you need to make some changes in your life. 

- TE