Going over your bosses head is a good way to lose your own, but there are occasions when the excursion around the chain of command can not be avoided. Office politics are separated from National Politics only by the number of assassinations, where clearly the office is by far the deadliest of the two killing grounds.

There is really only one justifiable reason for going over your bosses head and that is to complain on him or her. When the boss is the offender you obviously can't address the complaint to them and likewise, what is the use of filing the action with someone who is also an underling like yourself? The question then becomes, "Who do I go to with this problem?"

The easy answer to that question is to go to the next person up the chain of command or simply put, your bosses boss. Depending on where you are in the hierarchy of the company, if your bosses boss is in senior management you may have a tough sell as the big boys and girls tend to run a pretty exclusive club, letting in only those from and to they are willing to give and receive loyalty. George Bush has made a career out of insulating his office from assault by inserting extremely loyal people between him and the career bureaucrats who might decide to start going "after" their political appointees bosses heads.

Your company should have in place a procedure for complaining up the chain so I suggest that you follow it precisely but realize that if you attempt and fail at complaining on your boss or even if you succeed in causing a reprimand or company censure, your days are numbered.

If you simply don't like the way your boss is running the show you might first consider taking a lateral or even a lesser job in the company in order to get away from the trouble. You and your boss will know why you are leaving but the boss won't tell because they are probably just as anxious to get rid of you as you are to leave. A transfer to them is a much cleaner method of ushering you out of their trouble maker basket and possibly into a rival managers operation.

Quitting your job is also an answer albeit the one you might not want to hear. Negotiate with your boss for an A+ recommendation, get it in writing before you leave and agree to let your complaint fade away and stick to your agreement so long as the boss does not attempt to blackball you with prospective employers by telling them that the recommendation was coerced from them.

If the boss backs out of the agreement, seek counsel to get your job back and go forward with your complaint. Knowing that you would do this however, probably insures that all except the most incompetent of bosses would stick to the original deal.

Finally, if your grievance against your master is one of a criminal or civil legal matter, quickly seek the advice of an attorney and be guided by their advice on which avenue is best open to you. If the allegation is exigent as in sexual assault, immediately report to a hospital emergency room and inform the staff of what has happened and they will initiate the needed protocol.

Learn more about this author, Derek R. Snow.
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