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I've been noticing this the last couple months with him. Whenever I'm walking by or he's around, regardless of what I'm doing, he just sits there and stares for a minute, then goes and does something else.
Keep in mind I just started a new career and I don't want to mess this up.
He doesn't do it to anyone else, just me. How do I kindly ask him knock it off!?
Is it possble he may be giving thoughts to growing out his own mane? Is he approachable? next time you notice turn toward him and give a pleasant but business like smile and a nod of acknowledgement.
Just re-double your efforts to be the best employee. That is part of our burden--we have to be better just to show the point that our hair does not matter. It's actually win-win...
You don't say how old you are and how old your boss is. it may be that your boss is of an age where long haired men are not
trusted.
At the same time it should be noted he may be jealous because you
have hair that can grow long and he has little or no hair left.
It may well be nothing to worry about.
I wouldn't worry about. After all, you did get hired.
I wouldn't say anything yet, give it a month or two and
see where it goes from here. You don't say if he hired you
but obviously someone at the company thought well enough of
you to hire you. I would suggest strive to do your best work,
strive to get along with the people at the company but go
and look for hsssles with this guy.
He may just need time to get used to seeing a guy with long hair.
It also may be an age thing. When i was young (in my teens and twenties I got lots of hassles about my hair. Now that i'm older
than dirt (57) i get no hassles about my hair.
Once I passed the age of 50 the complaints stopped completely.
I'm 29, he's 54. He was pretty good today. Mostly because we were crazy busy (Typical Mondays)
He has a full head of short short white hair and he keeps it that way.
Very good point, didn't think of it that simply put.
Getting along with some of the people in my field of work can be challenging, not impossible but doable. Others all you have to do is smile and say hi.
Come to think of it, I'm the only longhaired guy there. Most of the guys don't really care either way. We'll see how it goes. Despite he's never mentioned a word to me about my hair. It's not in the rules to have short hair so I don't know what his deal is.
Well Michael, the last time I checked, I know for sure that I'm not able to read another person's mind so-far -- and I haven't met anyone else yet who has that capacity, either! So, for what it's worth, my advice would be to tactfully find a way to bring up the subject...
Here's a few ideas on how to diplomatically approach the topic:
1) "May I help you with anything?"
2) "Is everything OK?"
3) "Did you need to speak to me about anything today?"
4) "Has my work been acceptable enough for you recently?"
Notice that I kept all of my above suggested questions to a work-related way of wording it, as well as non-accusatory in tone -- after all, he IS your boss!
Hair might have nothing whatsoever to do with his staring behavior.
As long as you approach him in a professional manner, most likely he will respond the same; but also it might be wise for you to mentally prepare yourself for the slight possibility of him doing or saying something that's inappropriate -- in which case, that will make the work environment a much tougher problem than can be easily solved here...
I hope my reply has been helpful to you!!
- Ken in San Francisco