advice about your boss

Need advice about your boss? Here are answers to all the questions you have about your manager, from how to deal with a boss who yells, to how to tell your manager you’re allergic to her perfume.

is my manager the problem … or am I?

A reader writes: I’m in my second job after graduating college in 2020. My first job had a structural reshuffle, and so I was offered another role that I didn’t want. I turned it down and got this new job, which I have been at since November. The new job has a title upgrade and […]

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I can’t get my boss to give me feedback or solve problems

A reader writes: I have been with my current company for about four years, as a software developer. A year ago, a new manager was hired for my team. He seemed pretty good at first, but lately I’ve been disappointed. We have a bi-weekly one-on-one, and if I bring up an issue, he’ll just nod […]

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my new boss is changing the team culture I loved

A reader writes: I took a new job about a year ago at a major tech company with a strong culture promoting employee well-being via work/life balance, reducing meeting loads, encouraging asynchronous collaboration across flexible schedules and time zones, etc. My manager came from the military and has been at our company less than two […]

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my boss gets angry when I won’t share my food with her

I’m off for the holiday (but there’s something great coming later today!). Here’s a post that was originally published in 2016. A reader writes: My supervisor is obsessed with food! It started when I first went on a diet. I would have my lunch box packed with all of my essentials for the day. I […]

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my boss is coming back after going AWOL for 2 years

A reader writes: Since the start of the pandemic my boss has worked remotely. This isn’t a big issue except for two things. First, my team works in a lab as new product development. Due to the nature of our jobs, it’s nearly impossible to work from home full-time. Minus my boss, we’ve been in […]

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my lovely but bumbling boss is driving me crazy

A reader writes: I’ve worked for a small educational institution for two years. The job is an excellent fit for me, and I don’t consider moving on. The person I report to is the head teacher, who has worked here for 20 years. She is a gifted teacher and is justifiably loved by her pupils […]

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my office isn’t acknowledging my adopted baby

A reader writes: After a long wait, my spouse and I were finally paired with a birth family for an infant adoption and got to bring our son home! This is a complicated situation with work because I work in a position that requires coverage and the nature of the adoption process is unpredictable. Most […]

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my boss made me fire my boyfriend … and then hired her cousin

A reader writes: I have worked at a nonprofit as an executive assistant for more than three years and was hired right at the beginning, when there were only two employees. The founder is the CEO and oversees everything. This is her passion project so she’s very much involved in the operations. She’s also the […]

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