General Stanely McChrystal ran the war in Afghanistan.? That’s a pretty high level position with a lot of responsibility.? Unfortunately for him, though, Obama fired McChrystal after a Rolling Stone article appeared.? General McChrystal, it seems, forgot there was a reporter in the room and that his boss (that would be President Obama) just hear about it.? So, he was open with his negative feelings.? Rolling Stone even used the following line as their teaser:

Stanley McChrystal, Obama’s top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House

Ouch.? You can read the rest of the article yourself.? (Fair warning–lots of swearing, which I think is unprofessional as well.)? My BNET colleague, Steve Tobak gave good advice from the McChrystal debacle for executives dealing with the media, but, honestly, Rolling Stone isn’t offering to follow you around any time soon.? (Well, they haven’t called me, yet anyway.? And if they did they would most likely write, “She’s going grocery shopping “? I doubt my life would be headline material.)

So, are you safe in trashing your boss?? I mean, it won’t end up as a headline, right?? If you’re sitting around with your friends and coworkers talking about how stupid an ineffective your boss is, it won’t do any harm, right?

Well, wrong.

You don’t know that everyone in the room agrees with you. There’s a great political theory called the “Spiral of Silence.”? The essential of this is that people keep their mouths shut when they feel like they are in the minority.? They may even say they agree to keep the peace.? But, once they leave, all bets are off. You can’t control words once they are said. Or written.? Just because the e-mail conversation you’re having is a “private” one, doesn’t mean that sometime later your fellow e-mailer won’t forward it to a “friend.” It destroys morale. We all say we want a good workplace.? If you’re constantly trashing your boss, it will make the office a more negative place.? And then yes, it will be your fault. If you have a problem, take it to your boss directly. No boss is perfect and sometimes they have some pretty spectacularly stupid ideas.? If you have a disagreement, sit down with your boss and go over your objections.? Once she’s heard you out, it’s your job to get on board. It’s a small, small world. While chatting with another woman at a school function she mentioned the company she works for.? The president of her division lives in a different country, so of course she would be okay to complain to me about him.? No way I could possibly run into the man.? Except for the fact that we used to live 2 miles away (in yet a 3rd country), we went to church together, his daughters babysat my children, and we’re Facebook friends.? So, yeah, no chance I’d ever run into her boss!? (For the record, she did not say anything negative about him, but I bet she’s glad she didn’t!) Your negativity reflects poorly on you.? Part of your job is to help your boss look good.? It honestly is.? You do not move ahead by pointing out how stupid your boss is.? You don’t want him for an enemy. The internet is not private. Facebook, forums, blogs.? Trash your boss there and it may appear in her e-mail by the next morning.

Trashing your boss just isn’t a good move.? It doesn’t solve problems and it only creates new ones.? Instead, work internally to make changes, keep a positive outlook and do your best work.

Illustration by Superhua, Flickr cc 2.0.

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