This blog post will go over some coping mechanisms for dealing with workplace incompetence. We’ll also provide some advice for regaining your confidence when your boss makes you feel incompetent.
in general, you are supposed to look at yourself first, don’t take things too personally, own your mistakes and learn from them, build a support network of colleagues and friends, fake it until you make it…
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
When Your Boss Makes You Feel Incompetent: What to Do
Here are the details:
Look at Yourself First
Consider how your boss might perceive you. Are you arriving late, taking extended breaks, chit-chatting, or submitting work after a deadline? Have you asked your boss to repeat instructions or give you more assistance because you need more training? Even if your boss has good reasons to be annoyed with you, she should still try to help you rather than trying to harm your reputation.
Don’t Take Things Too Personally
It’s simple to get too upset when your boss makes you feel incompetent. However, it’s crucial to keep in mind that our boss may not necessarily be attempting to hurt or humiliate us.
Most of the time, our boss is only concerned with getting the job done and may not have the time or resources to teach us everything we need to know.
Try to look at our boss’s actions as a chance for improvement rather than as personal attacks. This perspective makes it simpler for us to meet obstacles head-on and grow from our mistakes.
The following day after work, write down what you learned. You can use this information to improve your abilities in the future by using it to reflect on your accomplishments and errors.
Own Your Mistakes and Learn from Them
It can be difficult to accept the consequences of our mistakes. Owning up to mistakes can be one of the best ways to boost confidence when a boss makes us feel incompetent, though.
Accepting responsibility for our actions demonstrates our willingness to grow as professionals and learn from our errors. Additionally, this shows our boss that we are willing to make the extra effort necessary to advance our skills.
Tip: If you make a mistake, ask your boss for his or her opinion. This will make it easier for you to see what went wrong and how you can fix it moving forward.
Build a Support Network of Colleagues and Friends
It can be difficult to tackle the problem on your own when your boss makes you feel incapable. We become less dependent on our boss’s approval, however, when we have a network of friends and coworkers to lean on.
When we’re feeling down, these people can offer us emotional support. They can also give us when we need it, useful feedback and advice.
Talk to your friends and coworkers about your workplace struggles. They might be able to provide assistance and support that you weren’t aware were available.
Fake It until You Make It
It can be challenging to maintain our confidence when our bosses make us feel incapable. However, we can actually begin to feel more confident in ourselves by pretending to be so.
Even when we don’t have the necessary skills, we can deceive our brain into believing that we are skilled experts by acting as though we do. When we most need it, this can help us feel more in control and more confident.
In social and professional settings, pretend to be assured. When you need confidence the most, this will help you feel more in charge and more assured.
Remember That Everyone Makes Mistakes Sometimes
This fact can help us put our own struggles into perspective and serve as a helpful reminder that we are not alone.
Additionally, we stop passing judgment on ourselves and other people when we keep in mind that everyone is just a regular human.
Advice: Ask your friends and coworkers about the difficulties they are currently facing. This will remind you that mistakes are common and that discussing them with others can be beneficial.
Try to Determine the Cause
The first step in handling a supervisor who tries to make you look bad at your job is to find out why. If you’re new at your job, you might have been hired over your boss’s objections. Ask your coworkers subtly if this may be the case.
It’s possible that your boss harbors prejudice. In that case, you’ll need legal advice so you can start documenting any harassment. It’s possible that your boss is insecure and will bring in other employees instead of you, making you realize that you are not the issue. You might not always be fully qualified for the position you were hired to fill, which could make your boss look bad or require them to do more work.
Prepare to Confront the Issue
Create a plan to address the issue once you are confident that you understand the cause of your boss’s harassment, whether it is prejudice or low self-esteem. Make a list of the topics you want to cover and rank them in importance as you prepare your speech. If you are proactive rather than reactive and can provide evidence of your boss putting you down, you will have a stronger argument. Make an effort to deliver an informative rather than confrontational presentation.
Meet With Your Boss
Once you’ve assessed the situation and created a plan to address it, ask for a meeting with your boss, recommends CNBC’s Make It Leadership blog. Tell him why you need to meet with him specifically, and that you’d like to talk to him about his problems. Often, this is sufficient to get a boss to acknowledge his unfairness and stop. If your boss is simply a bully, he will probably back off because bullies typically choose targets who aren’t aggressive.
When you meet with your boss, don’t start with a confrontational tone, such as, “Why are you showing up on me?” Say something softer, such as, “You don’t seem to be pleased with my work, in my opinion.” Ask how the two of you can solve the problem after attempting to define and confirm its existence. You can offer to participate in additional training, such as an online training course or an in-person workshop, if your boss doesn’t believe you are competent.
Why Your Boss Makes You Feel Incompetent
The first step in overcoming your boss’s attempts to undermine your confidence is to comprehend why they are trying to make you feel incompetent. Probable causes of your boss’s behavior include:
Motivation
While your boss may have good intentions when they make you feel incompetent, they may not have the necessary skills to do so. Some bosses might be critical in a harsh way in order to motivate you to achieve great success.
Your manager might have mentioned that you’d benefit more from developing a certain skill. To encourage you to study or put in more effort, they might try to make you feel foolish.
They might also think highly of your potential and exhort you to use it to the fullest. It’s challenging to listen to criticism of this sort. Keep in mind that it’s being done with good intentions.
Insecurities
Unsuccessful leaders may exhibit extreme levels of job insecurity. Such people frequently use strategies that exaggerate their feelings of insecurity rather than dealing with the underlying cause of it. If your boss employs that strategy to resolve their underlying problems, you might not have much say in the matter. It would be beneficial if you showed empathy and comprehension. And assist them however you can.
Abusive Personality
Even if you do good work, if your boss has an aggressive personality, everything could come crashing down. Bad bosses enjoy putting people down and giving them the impression that they could lose their jobs at any time. No matter what you achieve or who you are, toxic bosses like this one want you to feel uncomfortable and will convince you that you are never good enough.
Company Culture
Your boss’ insecurities may be a result of the company culture, which will eventually have an impact on you and your coworkers. The corporation may take an “only the strong will survive” approach to the workplace. They would prefer if all of their staff members had the same thick skin. As you start your adventure, don’t be afraid to push yourself to do something you enjoy doing. Anywhere is a suitable place to spend your working hours. To compensate you for your services, an employer will pay you through a job contract. It’s entirely acceptable for you to take action to address your employment dissatisfaction. For your mental health and wellbeing, it would be best to start working on that as soon as possible.
Signs Your Boss Wants You to Leave
What is a blatant indication that your boss wants you to quit? Here are some warning signs that it might be best to leave your current position.
- They micromanage you
- They constantly disagree with you
- They don’t give you more responsibilities
- They speak down to you
- They don’t acknowledge your achievements
- They exclude you from interactions with other team members
- They stop providing feedback
- They give your work to someone else
- They ask you to document your work more often,
- They write you up.
Summary: When Your Boss Makes You Feel Incompetent
A less effective leader, such as a clueless boss, may occasionally struggle to give you negative feedback without making fun of you, but they still want you on board. In other instances, they act uncaringly toward you, fail to notify you of crucial meetings, or exclude you from decisions that affect the entire company. Knowing what to look for can help you respond appropriately, preserve your mental and physical health, and keep your positive personal feelings.
You might be feeling a lot of pressure and unsure of what to do next if your manager criticizes everything you do. The best thing you can do when your boss makes you feel incompetent is to try to understand, then to be understood, own your mistakes, push yourself to get better at your current job, or look for work elsewhere.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions. I’m grateful that you read it.
