In your career, you will encounter many problems, one of which is that your boss is less competent than you, or even much less. This is a common situation. What should you do as a professional? There are four common approaches. First, gossip about your boss's shortcomings behind their back; second, look down on your boss, showing it in your words and actions, with sarcasm; third, directly defy your boss, such as not giving face, contradicting, directly confronting, disobeying orders directly or indirectly, or even insulting your boss or more severe behavior; fourth, go to your boss's superior to report how incompetent and wrong your boss is. These behaviors are especially prominent among young people who are just starting their careers and are full of vigor. Is this appropriate? Obviously not, but such things happen almost every day in the workplace, and after they happen, there are always a thousand reasons to justify oneself, or one goes around boasting about one's excellent performance. These methods, apart from giving you a temporary thrill of speaking your mind, have no positive significance and only negatively affect your career. Some people realize this is not good, but still can't control themselves. Why? Because such people have strong selfish desires, hoping not only to vent their dissatisfaction but mainly to show they are better than their boss. However, when you show off your abilities in this way, have you considered your boss's feelings, or what those around you think of you? Obviously, you've forgotten all that.
So how should you deal with the problem of a boss who is less competent than you?
First, it is normal for your boss to be less competent than you. Recognize that it is normal, not abnormal, and it is common, not unique to you. Only by seeing it this way can you balance your feelings and then deal with the issue calmly.
Second, your boss definitely has strengths that surpass yours. You should realize that even if your boss is not as good as you, there is a reason they became your boss; they must have areas where they exceed you, even if you are much better in one or several aspects. Perhaps your boss has thousands of shortcomings compared to you, but there are certainly things you cannot surpass temporarily, such as age, experience, certain resources, life experience, personality, certain special skills, knowledge, emotional capital with the entire organization, a higher degree of understanding with their superiors or other relationships, or they bring a delicate balance to the organization, or complement someone perfectly. These may be exactly what the organization needs, and you may lack them, so you should view this objectively. Becoming a boss is not simply about having strong business skills; if it were that simple, the world would regress to a simple, lifeless mechanical state, which is impossible.
Third, respect your boss. No matter how much less competent your boss is, you should respect them. This is the minimum professional awareness. Without it, you will feel uncomfortable wherever you go. Why should you respect your boss? Because your boss has what you don't, and there are things you can learn from them. If you want to progress and grow, you should learn from their strengths. To a certain extent, they are not only your work superior but also your teacher in growth. Can you not respect your teacher? From the perspective of your own growth, if you learn all the areas where you are inferior to your boss, making up for the gap, and add your strengths, then your overall ability will surpass your boss, and your promotion will be a matter of time. The reason you haven't been promoted yet is partly due to chance, but more due to necessity; your accumulation is insufficient, and quantitative change is not enough. The boss is in the boss's position, not because the boss is great or important, but because the position is important. At the very least, you should respect the position. Since the organization has established this position, it should be respected by subordinates; otherwise, the organization would have problems. Over time, the organization would cease to be an organization. Put yourself in their shoes: if you become someone's boss and don't get respect, how would you feel?
Fourth, support and help your boss. Since your boss is less competent than you, you should do your best to help them with their work, offer suggestions, and find solutions. This is the minimum professional standard for a subordinate. Don't stand by idly, ignore, or wait to see your boss fail. Why should you support and help your boss? Because if your boss were better than you in everything, they wouldn't need your help, and you would be insignificant to them. Perhaps one day when layoffs come, you might be the one cut. Supporting and helping your boss is not about flattering or brown-nosing; it's a need of organizational work. The development of an enterprise requires collective wisdom and effort from all members. The boss represents everyone in achieving organizational goals. If you don't contribute your wisdom and strength to your boss, who should you contribute to? Contributing to your boss is contributing to your organizational unit, and ultimately you will benefit too. Otherwise, if no one helps or supports the boss, what would happen to your organizational unit? It would be mercilessly eliminated by the market, and you would be eliminated too. If your boss doesn't need any of your support or help, then you are in danger, or the entire organizational unit is in danger, and the danger will eventually affect you.
Fifth, what if you support and help your boss but they refuse? Sometimes as a subordinate, you might encounter this: you come up with a good idea, think of a good method, and do your best to help, but your boss is unimpressed, refuses to accept, or outright denies it. At this point, you should not complain or feel discouraged. Instead, consider the issue from your boss's perspective: is your plan really useless or bad, or is there another problem? If you firmly believe you are right, consider whether your method of helping is feasible. Sometimes good suggestions are not accepted not because the boss doesn't want to accept them, but because your method of presenting them is inappropriate. The same good suggestion can have vastly different results depending on how it's presented. If your method is inappropriate, adopt a way that the boss can accept. If your suggestion is not good, then find ways to improve it.
Sixth, what if your boss is stubborn and dictatorial? If you have done your best and fulfilled your duties, but your boss still doesn't accept your suggestions, or even excludes those who offer suggestions, then it's clearly not your problem but a leadership style issue. If the leader is headstrong, stubborn, refuses to listen to any suggestions, doesn't accept any support or help, thinks they are omnipotent, and can conquer the world alone, then what should you do as a subordinate? There are only two options: one is to endure, and the other is to leave when the opportunity arises. If the organization has open democratic channels and a good democratic atmosphere, you can also feed your concerns to your boss's superior through normal, reasonable, and healthy channels, as a way of being responsible to the organization. Otherwise, don't make unnecessary sacrifices. Remember, try not to use unhealthy or unreasonable channels, preferably not at all.
Is your boss really less competent than you?
Bosses have different work styles. Sometimes a boss is not really less competent than you; it's just a matter of work skills and artistic tactics. Sometimes bosses deliberately show weakness. There are many purposes for showing weakness, but the common healthy ones are three: first, to explore the subordinate's true abilities, views on issues, and personality; second, to collect various opinions and plans in a democratic way for better decision-making; third, to satisfy subordinates' sense of achievement and pride, thereby motivating them. Therefore, as a subordinate, you should actively cooperate with your boss, help them achieve their intentions, and not deliberately play tricks or make it hard for the boss to understand you. If the boss condescends to ask for your advice, and you don't even understand their true intention, and you think the boss is less competent than you, and boast about your abilities everywhere, or if the boss shows a moment of weakness and you think they are incompetent and spread the word, is the boss really less competent than you? Who is truly less capable?
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