Let me answer that question for you right upfront. NO! Your boss is not an idiot.

That doesn’t mean that you may not have some issues with your boss. You would however do well to know that thinking your boss is an idiot is likely causing a good many of those issues.

Our thoughts tend to drive our behaviors and thinking your boss is an idiot will lead you to interact with them in less than a respectful way. You may also think that your boss doesn’t deserve respect but you’d be mistaken about that too.

Think about this for a minute…for your boss to actually be an idiot that you mean that the people in the organization above your boss are idiots too. I mean clearly, only an idiot would make another idiot a boss. Exactly how many idiots do you think work at your organization?

If your organization is truly full of idiots then why are you working there? Unless….

So get that ugly, limiting thinking out of your head. Just like every other human on the planet your boss has a set of strengths. Someone saw them and put your boss in a position of leadership so that those strengths could be put to use.

Your role should not be to focus on the limitations that your boss has (yep, they have limitations for the very same reasons they have strengths, they are human) but to help them apply their strengths.

Those limitations cause gaps and if you want your work and life to be more enjoyable and meaningful then you should focus on using your own strengths to help fill those gaps.

Anybody can find a weakness in others because everybody has gaps. That most certainly does not make everybody an idiot. If it did then almost all of us would be fighting for a spot at the front of the idiot line.

Your thoughts are no small thing. They determine your actions. If you’re thinking that your boss, or anyone else for that matter is an idiot then you are limiting your ability to learn from them. Whatever shortcomings someone may possess they know something that you don’t. That means you can learn from them.

Open your mind and look a little closer at your boss. Look for their strengths. Try to see them the way their boss sees them. Look for the good in them. Help them use their strengths by stepping up and filling their gaps. Use your strengths to fill them.

People who struggle to work well with their boss get noticed in a negative way. People who help people use their strengths get noticed in a positive way. If you worry less about who gets “credit” and think more in terms of a team success your own success will increase along with the team.

Think about it.