How to Deal With Adversity at Work

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I am a manager and I started taking my staff for breakfast on Monday weekly out of my own pocket (years ago). This builds a different type of relationship with your staff and the staff irons out any wrinkles they have with one another. During this weekly breakfast we sometimes talk about work but mostly about ourselves. It made us a happier group.
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Francisco Enriquez II of IL 8:50AM November 20, 2009

I had a bad boss once, couldn't get around it, and finally, through guidance of others simply changed how I dealt with him. I was easy going, friendly, relaxed at work (persona,only) and what he wanted was someone who was organized, ruthlessly efficient, and to the point. A gradual change in the way I dealt with him, to meet his expectations, ended up yielding wonderful results. I developed a great relationship with him, we became life-long friends, and I learned a new strategy for dealing with people.

A Reader of WA 4:01PM November 19, 2009

I really enjoyed this article. It gave me a chance to reflect on where I was and what I've learned. I can definitely relate to having a manager who gave me cause for concern. It's only happened once, but wow, I had a manager who was really out to get me. I had bad days, sick days and dreaded most days at work. I did everything she asked, got it in writing (via email follow up notes) and still she said I was not doing my job. It just boiled down to her not liking me and possibly feeling threatened by me. This was not my first job, so I was not inexperienced. There is something to be said for insecure women being allowed to manage other women. I have never learned more than I did in that situation and I have applied all of that experience to future positions. During that time, I did volunteer and it really made me feel empowered and helpful to make a difference in others' lives who were much worse of than me.
Thank you for these suggestions. It's very excellent advice. I think one of the most constructive things for me was working with friends and mentors on ways to tackle the issues. My most valuable lesson was learning to trust my intuition from the get-go. If I had listened initially and left the job as soon as she was reorged as my manager, I would have saved myself a lot of heartache. I still would have saved myself some time if I had listened to my friends/co-workers who told me to leave the job asap. I don't run from every bad situation now; however, I do listen to my intuition on the important topics. Thanks for this article!

Gemma of WA 3:31PM November 19, 2009

I can confirm that 2, 5, 7, and 13 work, having used them in a bad situation several years ago. I learned two valuable lessons then that have remained with me: the importance of taking care of my physical health in order to minimize mental stress, and that even when I thought I was doing my best, I could still get better.

Kelly of TX 5:24PM November 18, 2009