***Working For An Under-Performing Boss

I received an email this week which asked for my opinion on high-performers. The email read, “It would be great to hear your ideas/tips for Bosses and Employees regarding working with “high performers”. I was specifically thinking about the high performance employee working with a boss that doesn’t fall into this category. However, getting some tips on the opposite would no doubt be helpful for many as well.”

If you’re a high-performing employee and work for an under-performing boss, I feel for you. It can be an exercise in futility to go to work each day and have the motivation to be your best sucked out of you and five and a half minutes into your workday. Just being around people who are clearly not as talented as you (especially your boss) can, over time, diminish your work ethic while at the same time increase your ego. This is where you need to be careful.

Clearly you are a star player. Your performance would indicate it. Perhaps your paycheck indicates it. Maybe even some of the perks that come with the job my indicate it. But if the person who is your boss can’t offer you anything in the way of coaching, mentoring or self-motivating, then you have a problem.

I suggest that you find a company that is willing to offer you what you need. If you are a star-performer, there is nothing I can say or do that will improve your work experience. You will need to get better and improve and coach yourself on your own. If your boss is an under-performer, then he or she is going to stand between you and your true potential.

However, with that being said, there is still the chance that even though your boss may be an under-performer, they may still be able to help pave the way for you to reach your potential. Perhaps they offer to send you to courses that can improve your performance. Perhaps they may give you a few perks like Friday afternoons off or performance bonuses. Just because the boss may not be able to do the job as well as you doesn’t mean they can’t help you develop yourself.

Years ago, I wanted to become a sales trainer within the company I worked for. I was told I had to sell more. In other words, the company wanted to ensure that the trainer was the best salesman. Now, I don’t subscribe to that point of view for this reason: not every coach of every sports team was the best player in their league. Some people are better players. Some are better coaches. (The greatest hockey player in the world, Wayne Gretzky, is having a tough time coaching a winning hockey team).

I was on OK player but I knew my strength was in coaching. I had to leave the company to prove it. I have had several conversations with the same company (social conversations) since then and they admit now that I was right.

As a high-performer, know this: you are going to become attractive to your competitors and other industries alike. Don’t follow just the money. Make sure you have a good sense of what you want to do with your life, what you want to accomplish and what you aspire to become. Once you have identified those key ingredients to your long-term picture, you will start to attract yourself to people and organizations that can help you get it.

Ensure that you don’t become the pack-mule for the company (the one everyone else dumps their stuff to because they know you’ll get it done). There is nothing more debilitating than feeling you are being punished for being a high-performer. You must have a clear set of principles and articulate them to your boss and your co-workers.

Don’t worry about being fired for being a little more demanding than others. If you are a high-performer, you’ll find another job in no time.

How do you get to be a high-performer and have companies falling all over themselves to hire you? You improve your value. The better you get and the more you work on you, the more you raise your personal value to a company and the more those same companies will come looking for you. You have to be disciplined in your pursuit of excellence within yourself. Make a plan each day to work a little bit more on you. Over time, you will rise above the rest and stand out. That’s when the opportunities come to you.

Are the companies knocking on your door? Could your paycheck be more than what it is? Do you currently have the freedom within the job you would like to have? No? Then that’s would be a pretty good indication that the market doesn’t think you are worth it. You can’t argue with your results. You are obviously not a high-performer. The market knows the truth. You need to change your perception. You can’t demand high-performer perks without being a high-performer. Do the work on you first – the rest will follow.