I wish I had a sure-fire formula for changing the boss! It’s one of the common questions I get during my leadership development workshops.

If this is your issue, I think you have these choices:

1.Do nothing and hope things get better.
2.Work around your boss and try to avoid him/her as much as possible.
3.Try to have a discussion with him/her to provide feedback or wait for an opportunity to link some feedback to what’s keeping him or her awake at night.
4.Concentrate on his/her strengths and try to leverage those in some way while readjusting your expectations and focus on him/her.
5.Move on to another job if the other options don’t seem viable, you’ve sincerely tried them all, or they are just not worth the effort and stress.

I’d recommend you try and get other perspectives on this situation. Ideally, you would have a relationship with a mentor at a more senior level who knows you and this individual and can give you some neutral advice. If you’re conferring with a peer, be careful that it is someone who is a Navigator and not a Victim (see the March 2004 Leader Letter for a short article on the Navigator-Survivor-Victim chart at http://www.clemmer.net/newsl/mar2004.html. The April issue continues a follow up discussion from some readers sparked by this chart.)