9 Signs Your Boss Hates You
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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the…
Hey Optimist Minds!
Is your boss hard to please? Do they seem to have a grudge against you?
It’s a nightmare to have an angry boss because you’re supposed to show up to work every day. Daily contact with a person in a position of power is not only intimidating, but can also deteriorate your mental health.
You feel obligated to arrive at work and perform to impress. Since fear is the motivation, throughout your work hours, your body stays under stress. You never know when your boss will give you a hard time.
Chronic stress has negative implications for both physical and psychological health. That’s why it’s important to recognise if your work environment is toxic for you. Sometimes, it’s not just your boss’s personality. They might have a negative bias against you that makes them treat you so harshly.
In this video, we’re going to cover nine signs your boss hates you. You can use this information to understand your situation better. However, do not rely on this video alone to decide whether to leave your job. Speak to an HR representative before making any sudden decisions.
Now, let’s begin.
One
They constantly criticise your work.
Does your boss never have anything nice to say? Perhaps they do give the occasional nod of approval, but their criticism is a lot mor frequent and amplified. It can also feel like they’re looking for things to discredit you for.
Two
They exclude you from important discussions.
If your boss hates you, it’s possible that they will try to make you feel like an outsider. They might purposely not inform you about meetings and try to keep you out of the loop. Consequently, you’re left out of group exchanges so you’re not updated about the work.
Three
They never smile at you.
Is your boss’s hostility towards you visible on their face? Do they avoid looking or smiling at you? It could also be that they smile when they have an audience but you can tell it’s fake. You might also spot an rare sarcastic smile but you never get a genuine one.
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Four
They micromanage you more than others.
It is a boss’s job to tell you what to do but a good boss also allows scope for autonomy and learning. If your boss has something against you, it’s likely that they won’t trust your judgement. They might feel compelled to instruct you in every step of the process, giving the impression that they can’t rely on you to do it yourself.
Five
They respond in monosyllables.
When they’re not avoiding you or yelling at you, your boss has very little to say to you. Even if you exchange pleasantries, they’ll give short and meaningless replies and then distract themselves with something else.
Six
They assign you all the grunt work.
At every workplace, there are some tasks that no one wants to do. These can be time consuming, effortful, and not that rewarding. Do you feel like you get assigned these tasks more often than anyone else at the office? If so, then maybe your boss is taking out their frustration on you.
Seven
They’re horribly impatient with you.
Do you ever get the feeling that your boss is more impatient with you than anyone else? If your boss has any kind of resentment against you, they might find it hard to be patient with you. Subconsciously, they might get triggered by seemingly small errors or they could also be eagerly waiting for you to fail.
Eight
You’re not included in office jokes.
Has it ever happened to you that everyone at work was laughing about something but when you asked about it, your boss pretended like it’s nothing? If your boss doesn’t like you, they might make you feel like an outsider even in casual situations. It can feel like everyone is having a good time except you.
Nine
There’s no transparency.
A hating boss will never be open about their resentment. They’ll keep behaving in petty ways, taking away credit, reassigning the work you enjoy to someone else, or refusing to approve your leave.
But they’ll never tell you upfront the reason for these actions. Instead, they might even gaslight you and blame you for whatever you’re complaint is.
So, did the things we described here sound familiar to you? Do you think maybe your boss hates you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
A link for further reading and the studies & references used in the making of this video are mentioned in the description below.
Thanks for visiting optimist minds, take care. Until next time.
