How to deal with a stupid boss

[Timefortea99]

At the beginning of the year a new person, who on paper ticked all the boxes, was appointed as an external candidate to head up our team. I am junior management. Before she arrived a few people (male and female colleagues) who knew her were incredulous that she got the job, but I thought they were being catty and I decided to judge for myself, be totally supportive. Those came colleagues are waiting for her to fail, some of them are hopeful of getting her job if she fails.

However, without going into details, and by giving her a lot of chances and going out of my way to help her, I have reluctantly concluded that colleagues were right. Whilst she is perfectly pleasant she is completely out of her depth and she is only capable of dealing with simple issues. She shows no initiative, is unbelievably needy, and repeats parrot fashion anything tells her, she has no original thoughts or ideas.

Today she had to deal with a very simple issue and instead of dealing with it said "It is what it is." I nearly lost it with her, she was really patronising. To me that phrase means I can't change this (she could quite easily) and I want you to stop talking about it. I had to walk away because the words fuck you were waiting to burst out. And then she expected me to step up at a meeting because a colleague was absent, but without any of the background whilst she sat back and did nothing.

For reasons I won't go into I do not want to leave just yet, has anybody got any coping tips in dealing with a boss who is perfectly pleasant, but a bit thick and passive. She is on £100k + and I am a bit shocked that she is getting that salary and yet has absolutely no oomph. (I am not after her job, I am not circling waiting for her to fail. I welcomed her arrival as I was hoping she would be a new broom.)

I have tried keeping my distance but because she is so needy she has latched onto me as being someone useful. It did cross my mind that I could use her lack of nous to my advantage but it is not my nature. But I need to know how to deal with her without showing my contempt and annoyance, and how to retain my sanity in the face of such dimness.

Long one but if you have a dense colleague, manageretc - how do you cope?

Oh dear, my manager is exactly the same but you seem a lot nicer than me. I like to ask her complicated questions in front of her boss to show her up sometimes. I think she realises I'm carrying her so I said I was going to leave and she gave me a 6% payrise. I'm also angling for expensive cpd.

Do your work and possibly some of hers and get a better job on the strength of it. You can profit from this.

If you want to succeed in your career this is one of those times when you need to be a ruthless b. You are not goimg to benefit from being nice to her or helping her. Use her for your own gain.

Be professional, limit your contact with her and be very careful how and when you help her.

Step up as you feel it's appropriate. If you feel like she is taking advantage of you in meetings then throw the question back to her. "Um, I'm not sure.... What do YOU suggest?" Make it clear to her that she is the manager and you won't carry her.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of managers earning £100k+ who are bloody useless IMO.

Omg yes. Have got 3 pages of notes of all the stupid, ignorant things she did and said...needed to write it all down to get it out of my system after I resigned...toxic is an understatement..

Number 1- Be very professional and FGS don't bitch about her at all at work or to anyone who knows her. Remember she must have done something right to get the job- if nothing else, perhaps this is a lesson in life that you could have applied and got it if she was the best candidate.
Anyway, for now, it's an opportunity to enjoy strengthening your skills in patience and diplomacy. Don't let her latch on to you, it will never reflect well on you. You have helped her settle in, now keep your head down and don't do her job for her.
This is of course a very frequent experience in the workplace. I do throw questions to managers like this sometimes- I just ask them outright what they recommend we do, putting them on the spot. So basically I agree with Zippy. Surprisingly sometimes they do step up when forced to.

Thanks all. I don't have access to her boss so I can't show her up in front of her - but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that either.

I am trying to keep my distance, but she is clingy. She has started to be a bit cocky too - her pay has gone up drastically from her previous employment. At first she was humble but now she has sussed that she can ride on the backs of others. After 5 weeks in role she went off sick for 3 months. We don't know why but suspect stress. But however she came back, still a bit useless, but with a very defined survival streak. If she had resigned it would have looked odd on her CV so she is in survival mode before she can move on. She writes pointless wordy emails

She has got zero respect from anybody - they were onto her way before me. I can sense her external peers are not too impressed either. They don't show the lack of respect though but I am in danger of doing so, which is a 360 degree turn because I was willing her on. I need to keep a lid on it. I think I will just have to move on. I am very honest and at some point I will show what I think.

I wouldn't worry. It sounds like there is every possibility she will get the push.

Bide your time.

I have one of these bosses. An internal move, a big payrise she was very vocal about, quickly became apparent she couldn't do the job. A startling lack of basic knowledge! Kept getting us to do her work for her in a rather sneaky manner.

After a few months her boss cottoned on and tried to sort out what by now was a complete mess. Finally found out, she's gone off sick with stress.

It sounds like she won't be there for that much longer, at this rate. Keep your head down, keep your distance and stay professional. It will be fine.

She won't be there for much longer. Stay polite and profrssional but don't be too closely aligned with her (it may reflect badly on you if senior management perceive you as "one of hers"). Stay positive and regard the extra work her incompetence generates for you as CV-boosting, even though it is irritating.

Like everyone said. Bide your time and see if you can pinch any interesting projects from her.