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Dealing with a difficult manager is the worst. How do you improve your relationship without questioning their authority? How do you solve problems without sounding like you’re complaining? With your job on the line, there’s a lot at stake—and few employee training sessions that prepare you for this. On a recent episode of How To!, Patty McCord, former chief talent officer for Netflix and author of Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, revealed how to stand up to a seemingly impossible manager—without getting fired. “All of us have been in this situation where it’s like, Who is this person they hired to be in charge of us? They don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” Patty said. But Patty knows exactly what to say to improve your relationship with your boss and, moreover, your career. This transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity.