Is your boss micromanaging you?

A good boss looks at employees as people who are willing to work and are competent, says Patricia King in Never Work for a Jerk! (Barnes & Noble). Good bosses build on the natural desire of employees to do a good job and take pride in it. Bad bosses see their employees as lazy, uncaring, and unable to think for themselves. These micromanagers watch over their employees with an eagle eye, check and recheck everything, often making arbitrary and capricious changes. They believe they have to do this because they are the only ones truly capable of doing what needs to be done well. Here are two tips for dealing with micromanagers:

- Don’t try to change your boss’s personality. Most people who behave this way do so out of insecurity. This is a psychological roadblock that you’ll not likely have much of an impact on.

- Don’t succumb to insults or threats. If you do, they won’t go away. You’ll start a pattern of interaction that will be tough to change later. Stand your ground, do your job, and don’t lose your temper. It might help to keep in mind that you are merely a victim of convenience for a boss like this. If you weren’t the one on the receiving end, someone else would be found to fill the role.