How to Lead When Your Boss Can't (or Won't)

John C. Maxwell

• Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780785231165
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Business Communication

Don’t let a bad boss or manager hold you back from being successful!

Every day millions of people with high potential are frustrated and held back by incompetent leaders. New York Times bestselling author and leadership expert John C. Maxwell knows this because the number one question he gets asked is about how to lead when the boss isn’t a good leader.

You don’t have to be trapped in your work situation. In this book, adapted from the million-selling The 360-Degree Leader, and now distilled down for busy professionals, Maxwell unveils the keys to successfully navigating the challenges of working for a bad boss.

In How to Lead When Your Boss Can’t (or Won’t), Maxwell teaches you how to:

• position yourself for current and future success,
• take the high road with a poor leader,
• avoid common pitfalls,
• work well with teammates,
• and develop influence wherever you find yourself.

Practicing the principles taught in this book will result in endless opportunities—for your organization, your career, and your life. You can learn how to lead when your boss can’t (or won’t).

CHAPTER 1

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BOSSES DON’T LEAD

I’ve been studying leadership for over fifty years, and in just about every conference I’ve taught, someone has come up to me and said something similar to this: “I like what you teach about leadership, but I can’t apply it. I’m not the main leader. And the person I work under is a terrible boss.”

Is that where you live? Are you working somewhere in the middle of an organization with a boss who can’t or won’t lead? You don’t have any “official” power to make changes, so you feel stuck. You have ideas. You want to make a contribution. You want to make things happen. But the person you work for makes it difficult.

WHEN LEADERS DON’T LEAD

Many people find themselves in this kind of situation. I know I say this so often that some people are tired of hearing it, but I believe it down to the core of my being. Everything rises and falls on leadership. It really does. If you don’t believe it, just put together a group of people without a leader and watch them. They will drift. When there is no good leader directing a team, running a department, leading an organization, or heading a family, then the following results are inevitable.

DECISIONS ARE DELAYED

Not all good decision makers are leaders, but all good leaders are decision makers. Often it takes a leader to make decisions—and if not to make them, then to help others make them more quickly.

AGENDAS ARE MULTIPLIED

When a group of people comes together and no one is clearly the leader, then individuals begin to follow their own agendas. Before long, all the people are doing their own thing. Teams need leadership to provide a unifying voice.

CONFLICTS ARE EXTENDED

One of the most important roles of a leader is conflict resolution. In the absence of clear leadership, conflicts always last longer and inflict more damage. Often it takes a good leader to step up, step in, and bring everyone to the table to work things out. Leaders must always be ready to do what it takes to help people resolve their conflicts.

MORALE BECOMES LOW

Napoleon said, “Leaders are dealers in hope.” When leaders are not present or not leading, people often lose hope and morale plummets. Why is that? Because morale can be defined as “faith in the leader at the top.”

PRODUCTION IS REDUCED

Strong leaders are creative in finding ways to help others become productive. Sometimes it means laying out a challenge. Sometimes it means giving people training. Sometimes it means encouraging others or putting up incentives. If the same thing worked for every person in every situation, then there would be no need for leaders. Because every person is different and circumstances are constantly changing, it takes a leader to figure out what’s needed and to put that solution into action.

SUCCESS IS DIFFICULT

I believe many people want to dismiss the importance of leadership when it comes to organizational success. They don’t see it—and in some cases they don’t want to see it. Leadership comes into play, even when you don’t want it to. Your organization will not function the same without strong leaders in every department or division. All organizations need leaders at every level in order to be successful.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE VISION?

One of the worst things that happens when bosses don’t lead is that the vision of the organization suffers. If a team starts out with a vision but without a competent leader, it is in trouble. Why? Because vision leaks. And without a leader, the vision will dissipate, and the team will drift until it has no sense of direction.

Has your leader neglected to communicate the vision? Or is your leader proposing a vision that doesn’t align or contribute to the vision of the organization? If so, I’m sure it’s creating problems. What should you do?

If you have any leadership ability, you have ideas about vision. You undoubtedly see possibilities. You want to go somewhere, and you want to take people with you so that you can achieve something together. But how you respond matters. Take a look at the following ways people react to vision. The first three responses are negative. The last three are better, with each of them increasingly positive.

1. ATTACK IT—CRITICIZE AND SABOTAGE THE VISION

Some people set themselves up in opposition to the vision, no matter if the boss is a bad leader or a good one who does a fantastic job of communicating it. That’s just a fact. Why?

They didn’t help create the vision. Most people don’t like change, and whenever someone begins casting a vision, change is inevitable. People’s attitudes toward change are different when they help create it. Participation increases ownership. When you’re an owner, you see things differently. You step up. You take better care of whatever it is.

They don’t understand the vision. Just because a vision is clear and compelling doesn’t mean that everyone really understands it. Different kinds and styles of communication don’t connect equally for everybody. If a leader is really wise, she communicates the vision in many ways, in many settings, using many methods.

They don’t agree with the vision. Some people react negatively to a vision because they think it’s impossible to achieve. Others—though it happens much less often—because they think it’s too small. Still others balk because the vision has changed since the time they originally signed on. But more often than not, the real issue has more to do with the leader. If people disagree with the vision, it’s often because they have a problem with the person who cast it. No matter how good the vision is, if people don’t believe in the leader, they will have problems buying in to the vision.

They don’t know the vision. When it comes to results, there is absolutely no difference between people not knowing an organization’s vision and the organization not having a vision at all. The inevitable result is dissatisfaction and discouragement.

They feel unneeded to achieve the vision. There are three different kinds of attitudes when it comes to enlisting people to help fulfill a vision. The first one says, “We’re going to do this with or without you.” The second says, “We sure would like you to help us do this.” The third says, “We can’t do this without you.” You can guess which one inspires and motivates people to participate and give their best.

Old-style autocratic leaders may have been able to get away with the first type of attitude, but that doesn’t fly with people today, at least not in cultures where people are free to make choices. The second approach sometimes works, but neither is as effective as the third. People who understand how important their part is are motivated to persevere and work with excellence, even in the face of obstacles and problems. People want to feel needed.

They aren’t ready for the vision. It may be sad to say, but some people are not ready—emotionally, intellectually, or professionally—to step up, embrace the vision, and help to make it happen. If they are willing but unable, then they can be trained and developed. If they are neither willing nor able, then there may not be much you can do to help them.

2. IGNORE IT—DO THEIR OWN THING

Some people may not attack the vision, but they don’t support it either. Instead, they pretend it doesn’t exist and do their own thing. Obviously, this is not helpful to the organization. If your boss isn’t leading, don’t ignore the vision just because you’re frustrated. It will ultimately make you look like you’re not a team player.

One leader I spoke to, who for many years worked as a mid-level leader, said that he remembers a time when his boss wanted him to confront an employee on a dress code issue. The problem for this leader was that he didn’t agree with the policy. But he believed in the larger vision of the organization and wanted to support his leader, so he followed through with the confrontation. It turned out to be especially difficult because the employee thought the rule was petty. But the mid-level leader firmly supported his leader. The employee never knew that this leader actually agreed with the employee, not with his boss.

3. ABANDON IT—LEAVE THE ORGANIZATION

If the vision violates your principles or doesn’t speak to what you value deep down, leaving the organization may be the appropriate action. Sometimes that is the best option—leaving with honor. That way you are neither undermining the vision, nor are you endorsing something with which you cannot agree. I must mention one caution. If you find yourself in a situation where you are considering leaving an organization, make sure you’re not doing it because of selfishness or ego.

4. ADAPT TO IT—FIND A WAY TO ALIGN WITH THE VISION

At the very least, a good employee finds a way to align himself with the vision of his organization, so this is where you need to start. David Branker told me the story of Bret, a middle manager whose job was to provide computer support and data tracking for an organization’s training department. Bret was frustrated because he didn’t think the job he was asked to do was contributing significantly to the company’s vision.

Instead of sulking or complaining, he approached his leader to talk about the issue. Together, they discovered how his department might add greater value to the organization by creating systems that used technology to make training faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective. By aligning himself with the vision, Bret not only furthered the mission, added value to the organization, and improved the bottom line, but he also found greater personal fulfillment.

5. CHAMPION IT—TAKE THE VISION AND MAKE IT A REALITY

Vision may begin with one person, but it is accomplished only through the efforts of many people. As long as your leader’s vision doesn’t contradict the vision of the organization, try working to fulfill it. Strive to take the vision from me to we. John W. Gardner said, “The prospects never looked brighter and the problems never looked tougher. Anyone who isn’t stirred by both of those statements is too tired to be of much use to us in the days ahead.”

When leaders in the middle of an organization don’t support the vision, they neither champion it nor transfer it to their followers. As a result, the people they lead often don’t contribute to the overall success of the organization. You can help to prevent this. If you know and understand the vision of the organization, communicate it. Become a conduit of information to your team to help all of you make a positive contribution to the organization.

6. ADD VALUE TO IT

The most positive response to vision is to go beyond championing it and to actually add value to it. At this point, the vision becomes something more. It has greater value to the leader, greater value to the recipients of the vision, and greater value t...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Chapter 1: What Happens When Bosses Don’t Lead
• Chapter 2: Lead Yourself Well Before Anything Else
• Chapter 3: Find Ways to Work with Your Boss
• Chapter 4: Develop Your Influence Wherever You Are
• Chapter 5: Avoid Landmines That Could Make Your Situation Worse
• Chapter 6: Prove Your Worth Daily and Never Stop Growing