How do you work with a supervisor who you have no respect for?

[Anonymous]

We got a new supervisor about 1.5 years ago who is a very lazy person and I do not respect at all because of her actions towards clients, myself and her attitude overall. She is not technically my "boss" but she rosters my shifts until recently, she went on maternity leave and I have been cleaning up all of her mess!

To summarise: she just says 'hi' and 'bye', doesn't even ask me how I am nor even shows basic decency, she shows disgust towards our disabled and aged clients and prefers to be away from them - none of them even know her nor does she take the time to get to know them and relies on us to do her client work - which is to collect feedback about events she plans and how well they enjoy their time with certain actvities. When she went on maternity leave she told my manager she done most of the work but ended up just copying and pasting last years work which pissed me off. She does not even check to see if activities are safe and kept to a high standard and now I am the one who has to recorrect all the duties.

She came in today to see how things were and catch up with everyone and saw all the work I have been putting in. I updated all documents and information booklets which were out of date for many years, I have put in new systems to keep things under check from a safety perspective, I have improved the quality of work life by a milestone so workers now can actually do their job properly. I took on feedback from stakeholders, staff and clients and changed everything she has done and now everyone is happy. She is not because she liked how she done things, I had to tell her I changed things based on feedback received by everyone interacting with our services.

She seems annoyed and I am more than pissed off. I plan to find a new job afterwards because I cannot stand working under someone who thinks they know whats best but hasn't even put in any work.

[Anonymous]

Three options really: show someone in management what an asset you are above this woman and go after her job. Second, as you say, find another job, or three, the petty offensive.

I was a supervisor in a job in which the previous manager left, and in the interim, they hired a woman with zero qualifications. As senior supervisor, I had the task of explaining what we actually did to her, but really all she ended up doing was walking around, making cupcakes, taking credit for work or ideas we did, and "being mean mommy," whenever we got told off by upper management rather than defend us against them for things we weren't actually liable for. The piece de resistance was when she showed up one day and handed us each a brand new copy of some book called, "how to be a good manager," and expected us to read it (when? between the 100 staff members we had to manage, the 1,000 radio calls a day, the 10 schedule changes we had to make last minute due to call outs, the tons of visitors). I digress.

Petty offensive it was for us. When we realized this woman was absolutely useless, confirmed by some other staff members in the office, we began hosting our own meetings with just the supervisor staff in which we would ACTUALLY discuss issues and plan for events, and come up with solutions to fix and manage things properly. To her face, we'd smile and "be her friend," but we had a whole code we developed where we could talk about her right in front of her face, and in emails (she was literally spying on our emails which we caught her doing because she mentioned a few things, we'd never actually said to her).

We would show up to meetings playing it really dumb like we didn't know up from down to her, but we'd get in there in front of the board or upper management and pull out schematics and plans, and discuss ideas for the future which often left her dumbfounded because she had no clue what we were all talking about (which made her spy on our emails even harder), and had her confronting us apparently about not allowing her to share credit with her...because SHE was the boss!

Luckily she was soon let go and we got an amazing boss. This guy was dream boss, and made me so glad I didn't quit because he was a team player in every sense of the word and definitely gave us credit always for our work. For once in my life, he treated me (as a woman) not like some dumbo under his thumb who needed his permission to think thoughts, but as the smart intelligent person I am, promoted me, went to bat for me, encouraged me to work harder and get the best out of the job, and was a great asset when I went to look for another job a few years later.

I would say, definitely as you wait for another job, launch the petty offensive. If your system works, get everyone on board with it and the efficiency of it. Talk to other managers and bosses, and find work arounds, hell come up with a secret language like we did, LOL, and just get it done. Don't let that one person suck all the joy out of it.

[TsundereMatrix]

I had my share of toxic employers. I used to work at my local convenience store about 10 years ago. It was owned by a woman and her 3 daughters were basically my supervisors and all were younger than me. One was a teenager. The eldest daughter went to high school with me and was a bit of a mean girl but funny enough, she respected me most out of them. No one liked these girls or their mom and the way they ran the business. They forced me to work on the day of my grandmother’s funeral, dismissed my problems as me being the problem and told me the way I did things was wrong when my coworker who worked there for 10 years longer told me everything I was doing was correct. Oh, and they accused me of stealing $100 when it was the teenager that took it without telling them. No apology either. They also banned family and friends from entering the store during our work hours because they are “distracting”.


Long story short, no one liked working there. Because I lived in a rural town where everyone knows everyone, the word got around about the bad management and eventually they couldn’t find people to work for them and they sold the business about a year later. I say you definitely should find a new job but also don’t be afraid to share your story. Some people deserve a poor reputation especially when they have been treating others poorly.

[MrOracle]

My tactic was to make myself invaluable to their boss, or, to transfer to another department (it depends on the situation). In some cases I moved, and in others, I replaced the lousy boss.

Don't get me wrong, you have to bust your ass, and you have to have the right kind of person as their boss - if your boss is being protected by their boss, then you have to move. But if merit matters, then you can work circles around them and get promoted.

[Summeroflove]

Make money and keep doing the best you can as well as document the things she’s doing wrong and make a report to HR or whoever. How she treats people, her lazy shortcuts, etc. Some people are hired based on nepotism or whose sleeping with who. Unfortunately screwing over anyone whose decently hard working

[AI Opinion]

Navigating relationships with difficult supervisors can be challenging. I once faced a similar situation where communication became key. Remain professional and focus on your tasks. Document your contributions and improvements for future reference. Engaging in respectful dialogue can sometimes improve the relationship, but moving on is a valid option if progress isn't seen. Prioritize your well-being, continue demonstrating your capabilities, and seek opportunities aligned with your values and career goals.

[NatalieKeller95]

just shut up and do what you're told, and fake it until you make it, pretend that you get along with them, even though you cannot stand them, at work you have to cooperate with superiors regardless if you have respect for them or not, the job has got to get done, and management doesn't care if you like a supervisor or not,

[exitseven]

I had one of those. I had a calendar on my office wall and every day i just X'd out the day on my way out the door and i would say."that takes care of Monday" and on Friday i would say "That takes care of another week. I just did not take the whole thing very seriously. I certainly had no respect for him or any of the VPs for that matter.

[Anonymous]

I grasp now that getting on in companies is to do with relationships

I used to think if I was good at my job I would get ahead

But I realized that being good at software development doesn't make me a good team leader

And I don't really want to be a team leader. I didn't want that hassle, keeping everyone onside, representing the company. Keeping on the high ups etc etc

Maybe I'm not answering your question but that's my take on team leaders. They do their job, I do my job.

[Danny_dan92]

Just focus on my job. I hate my manager cause she throws most of her responsibilities onto my supervisor and he’s close to retirement age, he takes out his stress on all of us. Which isn’t fair.




And she also doesn’t like criticism. Regardless if it’s from her subordinates or above her pay grade

[zagor]

I've had supervisors like that, but usually at temp jobs I planned on leaving anyway.

At one place I worked at for about 6 years, both managers I had were pretty bad. One was very sharp technically but had no people skills. The second was a little more personable but not nearly as technically astute and seemed to rely on buzzwords and cliches.

[blackeagle007]

I know how you feel. I been passed up for a promotion many times. The gm I had plays affirmative action. And comes after me for doing work 🤔. He’s a troubled DEI loving person.

Cut your losses and look for something better, no one’s worth making your life a living hell.

[ohsheeT]

I guess it depends on how bad you need that job.

You buy the company and fire her
You become better at her job
Become bigger better person than her
Help her Succeed

Find another job

[Kelley1]

If working for a large organization, and most of the others feel the same, going as a group to speak and complain to the manager may be enough to get her replaced or talked to. Otherwise, look for another job.

[7Phoenix7]

If i have zero respect for the boss... then I'm getting the hell out of there.

[AviatorTom]

You work for the company and its customers, not a supervisor.

In my career, I've had good bosses and bad bosses, and have always concentrated on what I'm doing, not who is directing my work.

[molonski2]

I'd just focus purely on the $$$ , if you are not going to get paid any more , just don't worry about it , try to remain emotionally uninvolved.

Does she make a lot more than you?

[Nikki1989]

You deal with it, or you find a different job.

Not much else you can do.

[Iron_Man]

Maybe you should be the new supervisor. since you’re cleaning up her mess. Why don’t you talk to the main head boss and tell him everything Do you get paid more money for being a supervisor

[Anonymous]

Always remember: as I told myself years ago and even publicly on a radio station call once, as the topic was work and unemployment: "I can always find another job" should be every soul's mantra

[DishLady]

I don’t. I maintain civility and search for an alternate job opportunity.

[Anonymous]

It's not her job to be your friend. Grow tf up , do your job, get some real life friends. You're insecure and expect her to be your bestie. If you had a life outside of work you wouldn't be like this. You're the problem. Either quick or shut up

[Godihateyou]

I get paid as certain amount of money to do a certain task for 40 hours a week. I don't care who tells me to do it or what it is. I do what they tell me to do to get the money I need to buy alcohol, video get, and pussy.

[JesseP1nk]

You should fire your boss. Oh you can't. That means do your work and stfu

[DCVsMarvel2]

You either quit, or you find some sort of common ground with them.

Even people you can't stand, sometimes there's a silver lining somewhere

[Pterodon]

Ooh I did this one. I was way more qualified and experienced than my boss when I was civil service. I couldn’t take it and quit. Yes I quit a civil service job because I was miserable

[elizamichale1]

Well for me i can't do much about it... i just have to keep working whether i like him or not

[jahaims]

I've never had a boss I respected. I see work as me getting paid to play pretend. I pretend to care about something then they pay me.

[Renegade_Sailor]

You cash your check, and worry about them as little as possible. If you have to find another job.

[WonderingManII]

I recently had to quit my job cause mine was increasing my workload past what I could handle.

[Catailian94]

I found a job else then I quit. That’s what I did.

[Jeff51]

My dm is a pos. I've been dealing with this guy for 8 years

[Eempriyanka]

You should perform micro rebellion/agitation

[Anonymous]

You just have to tolerate them, it happened to me too.

[Fahadthomaz]

I think you just got to ghost that feeling and tryna Respect your supervisor

[ChooChooHaha]

I don't.
I get out.

[BDRick]

Just suck it up and roll with the punches

[In_Trance]

you're getting paid...

[Panthero80]

If it gets too bad, go over her head.

[MrChinaski]

Just leave.

[Makeushiver]

Carefully

[Heusus]

Respec him

[Sluttt]

What a viach