Dealing with difficult bosses

It's been said that people rarely leave bad jobs, but bad bosses. If the only thing that's making you stick around is the lousy economy, read on for some resources for dealing with the micromanager or the supervisor who expects you in the office seven days a week.

* No matter what the problem, different types of situations call for different ways of addressing them. How well do you handle a bad boss? To find out, go to quiz.ivillage.com/work/tests/badbossquizNEW.htm and take a 10-question quiz. You'll get the correct answers as you go and the results section provides targeted advice from workplace expert Ronna Lichtenberg, author of " It's Not Business, It's Personal. "

* At jobcircle.com, Career Coach Jamie Fabian offers advice for evaluating the situation and creating a plan for action. Go to www.jobcircle.com/career/coach/jf_2002_06.html for the full article.

* Recognize the qualities that are the hallmark of a bad boss by checking out " Dealing with a bad boss " (www.askmen.com/money/career/37_career.html). The writer profiles the different categories - the unmanager, delegator and dictator - and suggests how to handle each.

* Misery loves company. Perhaps you can make yourself feel better by realizing just how bad some of your peers also have it. Peruse a sampling of bad boss stories from NPR at search.nwfusion.com/query.html?qt=bad+boss&qp=&ch=hm&

* Did you escape your bad boss only to find that person resurface at your current employer? Find out what course of action monster.com recommends at forums.hr.monster.com/forum.asp?forum=2334

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Amy Schurr is an editor for Network World's Management Strategies and Features sections. If you have any career topics you'd like her to cover or want to comment on this newsletter, you can reach her at aschurr@nww.com.

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