How to handle difficult bosses...
ALL boss are perceived to be difficult IF you are not able to perform what he / she expects.
Since expectations are something in the boss's mind, you need to draw them out from their head...
For that I meant you need to find a way to understand the boss's expectation whether written or verbal..
..
Once the expectations are understood, then it is a matter of fulfilling those expectations.
Assuming you are able to perform those expectations, you still need to regularly update the progress to the boss and seek confirmation whether you are on the right track.
By doing so, you allow yourself to explore if their is any changes in the boss's mind regarding to that expect ions.
Very often, the expectations of the boss are not specific enough to be understood.
Then you need to be upfront with the boss to clarify what exactly are those expectations.
One of the good way is to establish the objective of the expectations, then establish a measure and targets.
For the measure, you are defining an indicator to assess how the expectations are fulfilled.
It is not specific enough for the boss merely said I want you to complete the project For the target, you need to understand the implication of any target set by the boss and show commitment to meeting it.
If you think the target is too stretch for you to fulfilled, then you need to negotiate with the boss until he agreed.
All bosses are reasonable when you achieve what is expected.
Though you may perceived some bosses get unreasonable when things are not done accordingly..
..