I’m a little confused here: Do you actually like this job, this company, and this boss? If not, then why not turn that kind of energy toward finding something that will better suit your needs? If on the other hand, you do like them, why pick them apart for your amusement? Surely, there are more fun things to do in the workplace!
There’s a tremendous difference between offering constructive criticism and just “pointing things out.” The first position’s ideas actually might be adopted if offered tactfully and the second position will be received at best with annoyance and will probably be disregarded. That’s a best case scenario, too. Even the most talented person in the world for a particular job would soon be merely tolerated, and most people unfortunate enough to have to work around that person would secretly be just hoping he’d quit. Learn this well: In today’s economic environment, nobody is indispensable. I’ve seen chief executive officers and department heads escorted off the premises by corporate security because they annoyed enough people to become completely ineffective in their positions. When that happened, they got fired. Don’t believe for a moment that the exact same thing can’t happen to someone lower on the corporate chart!
If someone develops a reputation for being abrasive, there is a very great probability that all of their observations will be dismissed as the grumblings of a dissatisfied employee. If you are as intelligent as your boss sometimes points out, but present yourself as a grouchy curmudgeon, chances are that your more valuable observations will be ignored. That’s a shame. Your good ideas would not be adopted, possibly costing your company a lot of money. And that would mean not having a raise in your paycheck.
People generally don’t like being around people who make them feel inadequate, foolish, incompetent, or two-faced. People naturally gravitate toward people who make them feel better about themselves. Bosses in particular tend to like employees who make them look good to *their *bosses.
Obviously, being able to do your job well is crucial, but it doesn’t cover the workplace relationship issues. Developing some diplomacy in your communications would go far to ensure that you are treated like an intelligent and valuable employee rather than as a hothead to be avoided at just about any cost.
Before you’re tempted to just fire off your opinion, mentally rehearse it. If someone were presenting it to you, how would you feel hearing it in the way you propose to present it? If the matter is serious enough, clean up your presentation, and make your case. Try to present things as a win-win scenario. Identify the benefits to the company as to how your idea would be helpful. When you get good at this, you can even get the boss to jump on board and think of it as her idea. That’s okay, too.
If annoying things are happening in your workplace, avoid the temptation to vent on company time. Find some neutral friends who do not work with you (to avoid the possibility of them jumping into office politics) and gripe to them. You can return the favor when they feel the need to complain about their jobs. But don’t do this on the job unless you want to have your gripes go the rounds of the office, and get presented to someone who shouldn’t hear them (usually, in a very distorted form.) In other words, discern where it is appropriate to let your hair down and blow off some steam! Better yet, take your office complaints to Our Lord. And pray for annoying coworkers or bosses. Yeah, pray for them. Trust me, there have been plenty of times in the car on the way home from work where I pray what I call the happy hour prayer. It goes, “God bless that !@#$%^&*!” I’ve even prayed that a particularly irritating coworker gets a great job–elsewhere. Anyplace else! It works. It takes the winds of anger out of my sails, I can go back to work and focus on doing my job, and on a few occasions, the person involved did leave for what they thought were greener pastures. I wished them well, and merrily went back to work!
Decide if you like being in this job, and act accordingly. God bless.
