How to deal with poor leadership?

Without giving too much information away, I’m dealing with a boss who isn’t the greatest when it comes to leadership skills. I work online as a scouter for deals, meaning I search online for discounts, and I’m technically an independent contractor. When I first got the job, I asked many questions such as earning potential (since it’s commission based), if there’s a quota I have to fill, and what my role entails. To keep it short, my boss never properly trained me regarding my job. She did do a short video on the basics, however she didn’t go into great detail into things such as what the values were in the organization, what to expect when posting particular items that are discounted, tips on how to be more efficient when posting, basically anything that could help me become a better worker. To my knowledge, isn’t that what a leader or boss should do? Guide and mentor those under you? Especially when they’re new? Let’s just say her communication skills aren’t exactly the best. What has frustrated me recently is that she sent me a message saying that I apparently was “working for myself” and wasn’t working with the team. She also mentioned things that I had no idea about, things that are very specific to this job and organization, and that I wasn’t doing these particular things. How am I supposed to know these things if she never relayed the information to me in the first place? That’s her job isn’t it? To relay information to me so that I don’t mess up? I have prodded her over time regarding my work because obviously I want to know how to do my job well, but I feel like the boss/employee dynamic is unbalanced, meaning that I feel like I carry the burden of having to figure things out. I understand that as a worker, there are things that I have to do on my own but when there are things that are content specific, that should be on the leader’s plate of responsibility. There are some things that I cannot figure out on my own because they are that specific. The nature of the job did come off as a “do it on your own” type of thing, especially because she told me that there was no quota to fill. I don’t claim to be perfect. I’m still learning as a worker/employee like asking important questions and being more assertive when it comes to certain things. But this lack of good leadership isn’t really helping. Also, another question. Is it in the worker’s/employee’s place to constructively criticize their boss/leader on their work ethic/skills, etc.? There are more things I can say and want to say but I’ll stop here. Thank you for reading if you made it this far. #management #organization #community-management #leadership #work #organizationalleadership #working #business #online #boss #technology #criticism #job #sales

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