The New Boss

The staff at W must cope with changes when
Blair becomes their new boss on "Gossip Girl."

Since the company I work for relocated right before I got my position, there were vacant positions that took months to fill when I started and there's been some turnover. Inevitably, a lot of the departments have dealt with a new boss at some point.

Thankfully, we don't have any mean bosses or ones that are never around in my office. But, in any situation, there's always a transition and it can be difficult to handle, especially if you've never been through it before. No matter how cool your boss is, you'll probably get a little stressed about the changes at least once.

As someone who's seen them come and go at a few workplaces, here are a few tips to help you deal with the new boss.

This isn't your old boss. You're old boss may have been the coolest person on the planet or maybe a tyrant who made your life miserable, but this new boss is a different person. You can't hold them accountable for the bad, or even good, qualities of your last supervisor. Try not to have any preconceived notions and let your boss reveal who they are over time.


Be patient. Even if your new boss was promoted from within the company, there will still be some things they'll have to get used to. A lot of times, they have to mess up before they can figure out how to do things correctly, so try to help them out if it's something you're familiar with instead of complaining about the incompetence.


Ask questions. I always tell the Feather staff, "You don't know something until you ask." Someone new will have different rules, so if you find yourself wondering if it's still OK to wear jeans on Fridays or if you can still take a long lunch on Wednesdays, ask your supervisor. Hopefully, they'll be helpful and figure out an answer if they don't know. If they're rude about it, at least now you know something not to approach them about.


Don't get aggravated. If your boss calls you out on things that were acceptable in the old regime, don't get aggravated. Either they didn't know or they think it will be more efficient to do things another way. If you want to keep your job, you'll have to follow their rules so save yourself the stress and accept the changes. Of course, all bosses aren't created equal, so if you feel like the rule is unfair or will hinder your work, talk to someone in human resources.