The 'boss' man

Well, this blog piece is not about thrashing supercilious bosses, who seemingly undermine their subordinates by ‘bossy’ behaviour and what they deem to represent. I would rather give them the benefit of doubt as there is a section of staff members who do not stand up to the high integrity/expectations of Corporate’s standards nor do these people understand the need to do so. I have come across staff members having inflated egos with a ‘know-all’ attitude. Being ‘bossy’ in these situations is definitely on, else how would one make the subordinate listen to the big 'boss' man!  However, knowing when to put a stop to ‘bossiness’ and make efforts in enlisting the services of subordinates for the general welfare of the Organization is the key to being a ‘good’ boss. This I find lacking in some bosses who make a habit of being on their ‘bossy’ best behaviour at all times throughout their careers!

In saying so, I do not condone the behaviour of such ‘bossy’ superiors who go on harassing and admonishing their subordinates, ad-nausea, sometimes with little or no justification. I was the victim of one such ‘bossy’ superior who throughout my tenure in this particular organization had established a pattern of high handedness by constantly squeezing me out of promotions and salary raises. Perhaps, his whole attitude stemmed from a low self-esteem (including his personality which was short of average height!) that constantly kept him on tenterhooks, once the victim (that’s me!) came under his vice-like grip.

Right through my tenure in the Organization, it remained my constant endeavour to please my boss and be in his ‘good’ books! The pattern was clearly established from the very first day of my joining in this particular Organization. He used to keep a constant watch over me ensuring that I do not go over his head complaining about his behaviour to 'higher-up in hierarchy' bosses. It was clearly a lot of pressure on him too! This kept me amused sometimes seeing his discomfiture when I had the opportunity to meet senior executives in the organization. My boss had to keep a tight leash on me and dissuade me from attending senior level meetings so that I did not spill the beans! I enjoyed these meetings much to the chagrin of my ‘bossy’ superior, as there was a constant demand from senior level executives to depute me to these meetings for dissemination of first hand level of knowledge/skillset that was more useful for the discussions at hand.

There were all other kinds of amusements too being bandied about at work place from one staff member to another, the common ‘enemy’ and centre of discussion being, of course, the boss! There was constant back-stabbing scenarios being played out, rightly or sometimes without justification attributable directly to the boss! The fun was in dishing out stories (exaggerated, of course, to an extent!) to other members of the staff or even outside the Department. Sometimes the stories were carried over with added ‘spice’ to different 'peer' companies in the area. Thus, the common denominator was always the boss which made him a study in curiosity by 'peer' company bosses. This also gave him a reputation of being a ‘toughie’ among 'peer' companies, thereby enhancing his image (much to his advantage) and largely disappointment and chagrin writ on the faces of our staff members.

There was another level of comfort and satisfaction to me when my boss would hand out his terribly ‘bossy’ behaviour to other colleagues at work! There was a competition amongst us as to who is the number ‘one’ victim of ‘bossy’ behaviour from the boss during a given period! There was a general discussion that took place (of course when the boss was absent or he had closed his office doors for meetings!) within the work place to give out the victim number ‘one’ award along with deep ‘empathy’ and promises to provide voice support if there were to be a next encounter for victimhood. However, these situations never arose as the boss was smart enough to gauge the gist of discussions and carefully avoided to face the victim in the next few days much to general disappointment all around. There were many interesting encounters that took place quite often as years rolled by due to large turnover of staff members. One such interesting encounter baffles me to this day. The following episode proves my point that at heart the boss was really a timid person (or more of a coward?).

The episode in question happened on a bright day very early on a spring morning. A staff meeting had been scheduled for the day at 8 AM. All staff members had assembled in the meeting room with lot of enthusiasm as staff ‘bonus’ matters were to be discussed per the agenda. One staff member, when it was his turn to speak, boldly suggested an :out of the box' idea; this was seconded and supported by all other staff members in unison.  The idea was that the bonus amount allocated to the department should be equally distributed to all the staff members of the same cadre.  No distinction should be made on doling out the bonus based on the performance of the person, which according to our understanding was mere hogwash. There was complete unanimity and enthusiasm for the idea. This particular idea was against the boss’s grain and did not go well with him. He felt cornered out and his face had gone ashen white, as all colour had drained out from his face. Though in essence it was not an outrageous idea, as such, but the boss took it as an insult to him and he felt that there was revolt directed at him. Seeing him cornered all staff members were more enthused and pushed him to accept the idea, which he reluctantly agreed to implement. After the meeting, the boss locked his office door and was closeted with his immediate assistant for the entire day. He kept on ruminating over his defeat (he considered this as the worst day in his entire life!) and shooting out emails to all staff on various other matters. There was a very rare staff unanimity and all of them were in their best element. There was beaming all around staff tables, the unity of strength in numbers was clearly visible that day which had made the boss take a back seat and he felt defeated. This incident is still recollected by all the staff of the Office who were present on the day in question. It was a landmark day in the history of the Department!

I daresay that I am able to recant the above incidents without fear of reprisal, as I no longer work in the particular Company and even for that matter I am farther away from the country in question for a while now.

Three cheers to ‘bossy’ bosses! Looking back, I think there was so much fun and excitement, albeit a tough one, amidst such an extraordinary adventure.  It taught me some deep life lessons which, otherwise, I would not have had the opportunity to learn and grow. The biggest lesson I learnt during this period was letting go of the petty differences and apologising upfront for the mistakes that occurred advertently or inadvertently in the course of doing my job.  It just goes to prove the point that there is a silver lining in every cloud.