how do I react to a boss that every single task is a crisis?

Question

He panics while giving me a task, then panics when I inform him that I completed the task (he forgets that he made the request), and also panics while reviewing my completed task (typically does not understand charts or reports).

Answer 1

Your boss sounds like my old one. All you can do is grin and bear it, you are afterall just the employee. But, when times got too strained for me, I'd generally go into the office and ask if I can have a "off the record" kind of talk with him. I'd tell him how his behaviour is affecting our working relationship and my work. Usually this would put him at ease for about 2 or 3 months, but at least I had a break from all the crises that he'd come up with.