Your boss plays a big role in the trajectory of your career. A good boss that encourages new challenges and helps grow your skills and provides you with exposure to management can rocket you up the career ladder, while a bad one can stunt your growth and make you feel trapped.
What makes a good boss?
Micromanagers beware.
While not a lot of people like their boss, it's really not that hard to be a good one. We asked CNN Business readers what they want from their boss and they said it's all about trust, respect and support.
Here are the five characteristics bosses should pay attention to if they aspire to be a great leader.
Help, my boss hates me
So here's the thing: You need to get along with your boss.
Your manager has the power to promote or fire you, speak up for you or assign you high-profile projects. So, it's in your best interest to forge a good relationship.
If you and your boss are on rocky ground, don't worry. There are steps you can take to mend the relationship.
Step one: Stop complaining. Walking around the office lamenting to your peers about the situation hurts your brand and could eventually make its way back to your boss and damage the relationship even further.
Step two is to start paying more attention to your boss's work style and adapt to better fit their expectations. It also helps to pay attention to when the boss is giving kudos to get a better sense of what appeals to them.
Read more about how to fix the relationship here.
Your boss works all the time
We all want to impress the boss, but when your boss is working 24/7 it's hard to keep up.
Having a workaholic boss can mean working long hours and sacrificing personal time to meet all the demands. It can also lead to burnout.
But here's the thing: You can't change your boss. The key is setting boundaries and sticking to them.
Speaking of bosses that work around the clock: What happens when you get a text from your boss late at night or over the weekend? Do you have to respond?
Here's how to handle the situation.
I want to be a boss some day
If you strive to eventually move up the ladder and become someone's boss, you have to prove you have strong management skills. But don't worry: You don't have to be sitting at the top of the org chart to be a leader in the office.
Even if you don't currently have a management role, you can still highlight your leadership capabilities without stepping on anyone's toes.
Here's what you can do in your current position to showcase your leadership.
Attention bosses: Your mood plays a big role in the office
Germs aren't the only thing that can spread quickly in the office. Emotions are contagious -- particularly those from the top.
Your bad mood not only affects your work performance, but it can also influence your team.
Negative emotions can be detrimental to the office: they can hurt productivity, morale and quality of work and can increase absenteeism.
Here's how you can stop the spread of negative emotions and create a productive and harmonious workplace.