B is always right.
He is the BOSS. He is a B or a BB….! Now B can be different for different people. B can be best, also..though, not necessarily. People leave bosses, not organisation has become an old saying. I kept asking people how is their B and kept collecting their responses. First, the good news, there were few good comments but here are not so good ones–
He is incompetent, hence pressure on us.
He comes in the afternoon and stays up late and expects us to stay. We end up working 16 hours.
He is a bachelor, do not understand what a family is?
He has sent his family to his village and spends all his time in the office. He expects us to do the same. BB…
Makes us slog and takes all the credit, driving us nuts.
Wastes our time with irritating interruptions.
Meetings and meetings to fill up his time.
Lacks confidence in his or her ability to lead others
Screws up and blames us
Does not listen
Rewards and promotes jerks, and lousy team members.
Very indecisive
Only talks and no action
Treats us like dirt
And on and on and on….
That was Boss assessment as per individual’s perception. You may agree or disagree. One of them was different. He said, my B is an A……!
The moment you hear the word ‘boss’, you think of your boss and start appraising him. Do not forget, you may be having a team (in case , you do not have one, you will have one) and you are also a boss and somebody is evaluating you.
Don’t leave the organisation for his sake, you may be walking into a greater devil.
One little doubt – in spite of this behaviours, the company is prospering. The boss is right ?
Lord, forgive them for they do not know……
Try and align with the boss. Understand his whims. Most of the time they need information in a particular format. Identify the pattern and feed them, accordingly. Don’t resist. You cannot change them. Change your approach. Stop hating them. Be nice to them. Remember, I am nice to you because I am a nice person, not you.
If you do not like their demands of personal favours like buying vegetables for the household, talk to them. If they call you at odd hours, frequently, explain, how your personal life will affect your work life. Your appraisal may get screwed, let it, better than you….(blah) (blah).!
All these applies to the boss, irrespective of the gender.
Laugh
Laugh at their jokes, we can reset your jaw back to shape, later.
Everybody laughed at Boss’s joke except one lady. “No sense of humour, why did you not laugh ?” the Boss asked.
“I do not have to, am leaving on Friday.”
Me BOSS and my BOSSES
Somebody asked me about my experience as a boss and with my bosses.
I had lots of bosses. There was more attrition among my bosses than my team members. Since I would not move, they moved. My tenure was quite long in the organisation. I had comments like, oh, you are also in my team.
For some, life is hundred metres dash, others it may be 200, 400,800 or 1500. For me, it is like long distance running, enjoying the breeze, the beautiful sceneries and performing. I ended up with bosses who were younger than me, due to this attitude of mine. No issues, boss is a boss, age no bar.
I was focussed on the delivery, quality, margins and made sure the buck stopped with me . I cannot remember any escalation, this left the bosses out of the scenario and some may not have liked it, not sure, never checked. Another advantage, my bosses operated from different locations, very lucky, for both.
Coming to my role as a boss, I made my team, my boss. With trust and responsibility bestowed on them, they had no choice but to perform. Besides meeting expectation, I enjoyed the role of mentor and enabler, More over I did not want to reach a position in the organisation where I would lose touch with people, who needed me. And there is where I reached, a very happy person.
All said and done, they are excellent people, without any exception, fine leaders. I loved them as much I loved my team.
My pin size ego helped me all along. Ultimate goal is to have an EGO, size zero.
Secret
Let me tell you one secret. The tougher, mean and unreasonable your boss, you will grow into a strong being, and will be surprised of your strength in dealing with difficult situations easily, in future. Accept the jerk , enjoy yourself, and look forward to bright times ahead. You will , thank them later.
Meet Narayanan krishnan
Here is a great opportunity for you to do something good. Kindly visit the learning professor’s site and know Narayanan krishnan. If you like, what he is doing, vote for him, as CNN hero. Your vote can feed millions of mouths.
(Regret-The post has been removed from the learning professors blog due to personal reasons-16:20 hrs, 26 Oct, 2010)
Rajmenon's Blog 
Rajendra….excellent article…..I think most bosses have been so subserviant to their own bosses that when they reach the position themselves they feel it is time to relax and for others to run around for them….few members of their staff are bold enough to tell them what they actually think or even to nudge them in that direction. Hats off to those companies where the staff appraise the boss. It happened in a big american company where our daughter-in-law Nidhi was working and boss was forced to resign.
was fortunate to start with Mr. M. Radhakrishnan as my boss, in the IT industry. Great boss, Yatha boss, thatha team.
Siva has responded to this post, that he will not be like his earlier boss.
Dear Rajan,
I have received a comment from Prof. Rajaram, TCE, Madurai on N.Krishnan’s post in my blog. Prof. Rajaram is a very senior person and I also know him personally. His comment is serious but not conclusive. I am trying to contact him. Please read his comment and if you feel it worth responding, do so.
With kind regards,
sakthidaran
I read it, it is inconclusive. However, I would prefer people to take a decision. Let the professor’s comment be there.
Dear Rajendra,
A realistic article, which brings out the reality of a Boss. I was lucky to have decent Bosses through out. Some of them Younger and some of them older.
In two of the organisations the staffs used to appraise the Boss also. In my view, till you do your duty sincerely, you need not bother about your Boss.
As a Boss also you should give freedom and responsibility with trust to your team members so that they perform well.
The Bosses mentioned here are not many.May be one or two in one’s career. Hope we are not one of them 🙂
Dear Menon,
As always an excellent piece? Did I find myself somewhere there? Yes in a “different location”. You are coming up with great ideas. Keep it up.
Yes, boss. You are on the top
It? s the first time I have heard that in Macedonia, obits are an unusual observe. You have wonderfully written the post. I have liked your way of writing this. Thanks for sharing this.
Dear Sir,
This is an excellent article. It resembles my experience when I was under the Boss that you mentioned in the top of the article. That time what I promised myself is that I will not do the same to my team members when I become boss for somebody. After some years, now the situation is different and my Boss(Hugh) is like (u) what you told in the bottom of the article.
Excellent lines..
Stop hating them. Be nice to them. Remember, I am nice to you because I am a nice person, not you.
Siva
Good Siva. Keep up your promise
Hello Sir, Thanks for yet another nice thought provoking article and some pointers on how to deal with bosses..It was truly helpful.
And also, would like to take this opportunity to let you know that you are one of the BEST bosses I have seen so far and till date I fondly remember & admire you for your super guidance, help and motivation. THANK YOU
Thank you for the compliment. You will meet lots of good bosses in your life. Don’t worry, the type of Bosses mentioned are not in the majority. Wish you all the best.
Dear Menon,
Hope you don’t mind my calling you as above, as we used to call you in R.E.C.,Rourkela.A very practical article. I loved it, since I identified myself with some B there.
Cheers
Rabi Dey
Dear Rabi
Glad to hear from you, after more than three and half decades. My name is (still) Menon, though some of them call me Rajendra or Raj.
I hope, you have moved out of those B’s clutches, since nothing is permanent, whether good or bad, everything has to pass 🙂
Dear Menon,
Thanks.
Continue to create a difference in many more lives.
God bless you,
Rabi
Hello Sir
A nice article. Fortunately I had wonderful Boss like you.
Shiva Kumar BL