Must Read!!! 5 Ways Of Spotting A Manipulative Boss

By Lilian Wamaitha

Imagine for a moment what it would be like working under a boss who is always blaming you when things go wrong? A boss who never takes responsibilities for his/her own actions and is always ready to point fingers. A manipulative boss will basically use emotional influence to control you and make you depend on them for everything.

This kind of boss will act like they have your best interest at heart while in the real sense they are just using you. No matter how good you are, a manipulative boss will never see it that way. There will always be something wrong that you are doing even when you are giving it your all.

Here are five ways you can spot such a boss.

Find Out >>> The 6 Kinds of Bad Bosses

1. They only focus on your short comings

A good boss is one who recognizes that despite your weakness, you have some strengths. They encourage you and motivate you to keep going. A manipulative boss will only see your weakness. They will only be focused on what you are not doing right and forget that nobody is perfect.

For instance, if you ask for a raise because you think you deserve it, they will put you down through threats about how others are much willing to work for the same amount just to dim your confidence. By preying on your weaknesses, this kind of boss does not want you to progress. They will do anything to see you remain in the same position.

The best way to handle this kind of boss is to build your self-confidence first and always do your job to the best of your ability.

2. They micromanage you

Have you ever had that kind of boss or supervisor who has to monitor every single thing you do? It like they are saying that they can never trust you enough to make decisions on your own. And dare you go ahead doing your work without them giving you a go ahead and you will not hear the end of it.

This kind of boss will kill your self-confidence because they do not want you to grow. They will reject your ideas and later on come up with the same idea and take credit for it.

3. They pass on the blame on you

An ideal and good boss will know when to accept their own short comings. A manipulative boss however, will never accept their faults but will be very quick to take credit for your work.

This boss will have you do something that they are afraid of doing and then blame you when the results are not positive. They will also make you take blame for a mistake they did.

If not careful such a boss will ruin your career just so that they came come out in good light.

4. Will often mention senior managers to control you

A manipulative boss or supervisor always want to appear clean of everything. They will give directions and in between drop in names of senior managers, mostly those that you don’t work closely with to show you that the decision is not theirs.

In reality, they just want someone to do their dirty bidding for them by blaming others.
Most of the time they will do this especially to justify something wrong because they want to keep you under their control.

They want to make it seem like it’s not them requesting but a higher power. This is often a sign of poor leadership and it shows that they can never stand by their own decisions but rely on others to drive their point home.

5. They will always act like a friend and stab you in the back the next minute

We all know these kinds of people. We have them as friends and even relatives. They will play the friendship card and the next minute “Game of Thrones” you when you least expect it. They cunning, manipulative and can never be trusted.

In the work place a manipulative boss will always act like the perfect friend and a totally different person when it suits them. You can never predict their mood neither can you trust them.

Be careful about this one because they will use this to bring you down. They will pretend to get to know you better just to gather information that they can use to bring you down.

It goes without saying that no job is perfect neither are all bosses the same. You may work for the worst kind or the best. You may even find yourself working for a manipulative boss. Knowing how to handle them will save you a lot of stress and even your career.

Must Read >>> How You Relate With Your Boss Can Make Or Break Your Career

What other kind of a boss have you ever encountered? Share in the comment section below.

The writer is a Communications & Digital Marketer at Career Point Kenya. Like us on Facebook or follow on twitter @CareerPointKe