I strongly disagree that "BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT", It is not TRUE as everyone is blindly following this quote without evaluating the facts.
Let it be entrepreneur, employer, TOP MANAGEMENT etc....i would boldly say that "BOSS CAN EVEN GO WRONG".
BOSS IS ALSO A HUMAN BEING LIKE US.......and nothing else.....
With profound regards
From India, Chennai
288Let it be entrepreneur, employer, TOP MANAGEMENT etc....i would boldly say that "BOSS CAN EVEN GO WRONG".
BOSS IS ALSO A HUMAN BEING LIKE US.......and nothing else.....
With profound regards
From India, Chennai
Dear Mr. Nikhil
May be from your perspective but not from mine........
Even if i am given an opportunity to deliver the role of a President, MD or CEO (at TOP MANAGEMENT LEVEL, i had already served KES, GULBARGA as SECRETARGY GENERAL, 2nd Position in the Hierarchy, managed a turnover above 15CR), neither, I'll never say that BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT nor i will allow my TEAM to say/preach the same. A successful BOSS will make his/her team say "WE ALL ARE ALWAYS RIGHT", this will inculcate similar thought process without creating any conflicts/misunderstanding within employees and between boss and employees.
BOSS is not a GOD.
One of my friend had defined those who blindly says BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT as "HONEST FOOOLS OF THIS WORLD" and i agreed with him because he too loves to speak the facts.
Have a nice day.....
With profound regards
From India, Chennai
May be from your perspective but not from mine........
Even if i am given an opportunity to deliver the role of a President, MD or CEO (at TOP MANAGEMENT LEVEL, i had already served KES, GULBARGA as SECRETARGY GENERAL, 2nd Position in the Hierarchy, managed a turnover above 15CR), neither, I'll never say that BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT nor i will allow my TEAM to say/preach the same. A successful BOSS will make his/her team say "WE ALL ARE ALWAYS RIGHT", this will inculcate similar thought process without creating any conflicts/misunderstanding within employees and between boss and employees.
BOSS is not a GOD.
One of my friend had defined those who blindly says BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT as "HONEST FOOOLS OF THIS WORLD" and i agreed with him because he too loves to speak the facts.
Have a nice day.....
With profound regards
From India, Chennai
Interesting Sunita, you didn't misinterpret it completely. However, Boss's favorite = totally incompetent... is something that was never implied.
And the boss only reinforces the values of the organization... And believe me, the science of impression management revolves around this question... By ignoring the factor that the boss's favorite gains due to his impression management skills, you might not ensure a good or fair performance appraisal system. At the same time, it also means that employees are often dis-illusioned about their rating criteria and the dynamics of impression management... Now the best part: If you think that the impression made to the boss is not a deliverable, then it could be a recruitment and a cultural issue as well...
Many have raised the question of ethics. Well in the world of ethics, you have personal ethics and you have corporate ethics. And believe me, employees of a company known to be viewed as a 'fraud' company, get a shade of that on them as well. Ultimately, everyone needs to align with the organization. Aligning with the organization means aligning with the needs of the organization, those that are administered through the bosses to their subordinates. Hence, the recruitment issue.
From United States, Daphne
And the boss only reinforces the values of the organization... And believe me, the science of impression management revolves around this question... By ignoring the factor that the boss's favorite gains due to his impression management skills, you might not ensure a good or fair performance appraisal system. At the same time, it also means that employees are often dis-illusioned about their rating criteria and the dynamics of impression management... Now the best part: If you think that the impression made to the boss is not a deliverable, then it could be a recruitment and a cultural issue as well...
Many have raised the question of ethics. Well in the world of ethics, you have personal ethics and you have corporate ethics. And believe me, employees of a company known to be viewed as a 'fraud' company, get a shade of that on them as well. Ultimately, everyone needs to align with the organization. Aligning with the organization means aligning with the needs of the organization, those that are administered through the bosses to their subordinates. Hence, the recruitment issue.
From United States, Daphne
Hello Mr. Nikhil,
Greetings for the day!
1.Boss's favorite = totally incompetent is something that was never implied, neither did I……but then I feel your question itself was not very clear, coz when you directly ask “Which is better: Being a boss's favorite or a 'trusted' team player?” I don’t think the answer is too difficult and that’s what most of us have responded with. So it’s better if your re-frame the question adding all those qualities to the Boss’s favorite which you are saying much later in the discussion. Am sure you will get different replies in that scenario.
2. ‘boss only reinforces the values of the organization’. Do you really agree with that??? Does this statement not saying that all the bosses on this earth have very high level of values in them and that they are simply too perfect to go wrong ever. If even a single boss fails to stand upto your statement then I would say that you need to revise your statement.
3. What do you mean by impression management??? Would like to give you a real life example….In one of the company I worked with: I had 2 executives directly reporting to me ‘X’ and ‘Y’:
‘X’ was the one who was very humble, will take care of me (as in whenever I m not well, he will make calls asking my well being, will assure me that I should not worry about things and that if he should get me some medicines etc). He was the one who will ensure that my table is clean and that all the files & documents are there before I reach my desk. That he follows all the guidelines set my me and never falls out of the line. This guy had really created an excellent impression on me.
‘Y’ was the guy who didn’t make a single call to me and was rather surprised to know that I was not well the other day. Anyways, after reaching office his first statement was: Ms. Sunita, would you like me to update you with what happened yesterday, since you were not present, these many things took place in the office, these are the minutes of meetings of the HOD meet happened yesterday and I have mailed the rest of the official reports to you. You may kindly check and henceforth ask me for any other thing, which you might not have been updated with. Nonetheless, to say this was the guy who might not have talked to me about my personal things ever, but then was an excellent performer and a true professional.
As their Manager, I had to promote one of them as a Sr. Executive during the year end appraisal. Whom, do you think I had?????????
Let me tell you, it was undoubtedly Mr. ‘Y’, who created a sense of trust, who made me feel that I can leave my department on him whenever needed. And this shows the ‘PERSONALITY’ I, as a manager possess. I being a manager, don’t need someone who butters me all the time, rather I need a performer….and performance speaks on its own.
Mr. Nikhil, I would like to say that I never intended any personality typification (when I say 'your personality', doesn’t mean yours but 'any person' in general). So, kindly don't misinterpret this. The last thing I would want to do on this forum is to hurt anyone's sentiments.
Lastly, I feel whenever we open a thread we should be open towards accepting feedback and comments...however, in this scenario it doesn’t look like as if anyone can ever convince you with the point of view which you do not possess.
Henceforth, if you feel, being a Boss’s favorite is more important than being trusted then it’s your perception and I think any further discussion on this would not be a very good utilization of time.
Wish you all the luck!
Sunita M.
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Greetings for the day!
1.Boss's favorite = totally incompetent is something that was never implied, neither did I……but then I feel your question itself was not very clear, coz when you directly ask “Which is better: Being a boss's favorite or a 'trusted' team player?” I don’t think the answer is too difficult and that’s what most of us have responded with. So it’s better if your re-frame the question adding all those qualities to the Boss’s favorite which you are saying much later in the discussion. Am sure you will get different replies in that scenario.
2. ‘boss only reinforces the values of the organization’. Do you really agree with that??? Does this statement not saying that all the bosses on this earth have very high level of values in them and that they are simply too perfect to go wrong ever. If even a single boss fails to stand upto your statement then I would say that you need to revise your statement.
3. What do you mean by impression management??? Would like to give you a real life example….In one of the company I worked with: I had 2 executives directly reporting to me ‘X’ and ‘Y’:
‘X’ was the one who was very humble, will take care of me (as in whenever I m not well, he will make calls asking my well being, will assure me that I should not worry about things and that if he should get me some medicines etc). He was the one who will ensure that my table is clean and that all the files & documents are there before I reach my desk. That he follows all the guidelines set my me and never falls out of the line. This guy had really created an excellent impression on me.
‘Y’ was the guy who didn’t make a single call to me and was rather surprised to know that I was not well the other day. Anyways, after reaching office his first statement was: Ms. Sunita, would you like me to update you with what happened yesterday, since you were not present, these many things took place in the office, these are the minutes of meetings of the HOD meet happened yesterday and I have mailed the rest of the official reports to you. You may kindly check and henceforth ask me for any other thing, which you might not have been updated with. Nonetheless, to say this was the guy who might not have talked to me about my personal things ever, but then was an excellent performer and a true professional.
As their Manager, I had to promote one of them as a Sr. Executive during the year end appraisal. Whom, do you think I had?????????
Let me tell you, it was undoubtedly Mr. ‘Y’, who created a sense of trust, who made me feel that I can leave my department on him whenever needed. And this shows the ‘PERSONALITY’ I, as a manager possess. I being a manager, don’t need someone who butters me all the time, rather I need a performer….and performance speaks on its own.
Mr. Nikhil, I would like to say that I never intended any personality typification (when I say 'your personality', doesn’t mean yours but 'any person' in general). So, kindly don't misinterpret this. The last thing I would want to do on this forum is to hurt anyone's sentiments.
Lastly, I feel whenever we open a thread we should be open towards accepting feedback and comments...however, in this scenario it doesn’t look like as if anyone can ever convince you with the point of view which you do not possess.
Henceforth, if you feel, being a Boss’s favorite is more important than being trusted then it’s your perception and I think any further discussion on this would not be a very good utilization of time.
Wish you all the luck!
Sunita M.
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Sunita,
In fact, I have learnt a lot from this thread. And that is just because I am open to views of people.
1. Going by the answers received... it seems the decision could be different. Let me try to summarize what our fellow members have told: It is better to be a trusted team player because they believe team spirit is a very crucial skill in today's environment. They also believe that organizations change, hence today's advantage maynot be tomorrows. Some people said that it might hurt their ethics at times. There is another school that believes that whatever said, it is better to be a favorite.
Let us understand who becomes a favorite (and this was where I was requesting (Cite Contribution) and possibly Archana because their research and white papers could well provide insight to us). A boss's favorite is often the guy whom the boss can rely upon. Bosses tend to rely upon people who meet certain criteria. I know people who do good work, but they keep an aura of 'sadness' around them because they feel they are not sufficiently supported or rewarded. They are trusted team players, guys with good skills, but they are never the boss's favorite. And the majority of the posts on this thread indicate that they are in the right posture. On the other hand, there are others who do it, but are pretty 'happy' and help the boss maintain the impression that they are really feeling 'great' about what they do. Naturally, a boss would like that. This is not a generic example, so the facts of the case maynot be complete and amenable to analysis. At the same time, I have talked to such folks about trying to 'become the boss's favorite'... and they are not quite understanding the meaning of it.
As HR, you can easily identify if there is some favoritism going on in the company during the performance appraisals. And we might agree to the fact that these guys are growing faster in the organization. For political reasons, we may want to deny it. However, we know it still exists.
2. If the boss doesn't reinforce the values of the organization, nobody else can! A hierarchy in an organization is defined precisely with this objective. If you don't agree with that, I would be surprised. Who else do you think reinforces the values? The HR????
And you will find bosses who don't and that is where there are problems in the organization!
3. I know our MBA textbook had a section on Impression Management. I am unable to recall as it was years ago... However, here are some links.
Impression management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://opp.com <link updated to site home>
You could find more just by Googling... I prefer the library instead!
4. In Queen's English (which we follow in India), the reference is always one's personality. Your Personality means something addressed to a specific person! Thanks for your clarification.
5. It is interesting to see how fellow HR professionals have different views across the spectrum. In practice, however, I am not sure how many of us can ensure we follow what we stated out here. Personally yes, but as organizations... am not sure. My view was based on people growing in organizations... fast-track employees... And I see nothing wrong with either. So long as my business need is met! So, I am apolitical, although amazed at the number of people who tend to under-rate the importance and the dynamics of impression management.
From United States, Daphne
In fact, I have learnt a lot from this thread. And that is just because I am open to views of people.
1. Going by the answers received... it seems the decision could be different. Let me try to summarize what our fellow members have told: It is better to be a trusted team player because they believe team spirit is a very crucial skill in today's environment. They also believe that organizations change, hence today's advantage maynot be tomorrows. Some people said that it might hurt their ethics at times. There is another school that believes that whatever said, it is better to be a favorite.
Let us understand who becomes a favorite (and this was where I was requesting (Cite Contribution) and possibly Archana because their research and white papers could well provide insight to us). A boss's favorite is often the guy whom the boss can rely upon. Bosses tend to rely upon people who meet certain criteria. I know people who do good work, but they keep an aura of 'sadness' around them because they feel they are not sufficiently supported or rewarded. They are trusted team players, guys with good skills, but they are never the boss's favorite. And the majority of the posts on this thread indicate that they are in the right posture. On the other hand, there are others who do it, but are pretty 'happy' and help the boss maintain the impression that they are really feeling 'great' about what they do. Naturally, a boss would like that. This is not a generic example, so the facts of the case maynot be complete and amenable to analysis. At the same time, I have talked to such folks about trying to 'become the boss's favorite'... and they are not quite understanding the meaning of it.
As HR, you can easily identify if there is some favoritism going on in the company during the performance appraisals. And we might agree to the fact that these guys are growing faster in the organization. For political reasons, we may want to deny it. However, we know it still exists.
2. If the boss doesn't reinforce the values of the organization, nobody else can! A hierarchy in an organization is defined precisely with this objective. If you don't agree with that, I would be surprised. Who else do you think reinforces the values? The HR????
And you will find bosses who don't and that is where there are problems in the organization!
3. I know our MBA textbook had a section on Impression Management. I am unable to recall as it was years ago... However, here are some links.
Impression management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://opp.com <link updated to site home>
You could find more just by Googling... I prefer the library instead!
4. In Queen's English (which we follow in India), the reference is always one's personality. Your Personality means something addressed to a specific person! Thanks for your clarification.
5. It is interesting to see how fellow HR professionals have different views across the spectrum. In practice, however, I am not sure how many of us can ensure we follow what we stated out here. Personally yes, but as organizations... am not sure. My view was based on people growing in organizations... fast-track employees... And I see nothing wrong with either. So long as my business need is met! So, I am apolitical, although amazed at the number of people who tend to under-rate the importance and the dynamics of impression management.
From United States, Daphne
Hello Mr. Nikhil,
Greetings for the day!
It's been quite enriching to go through your posts. Thanks for all the contributions you made.
Not taking much of your precious time this time, I simply would like to emphasize on what i have already said. Please see:
YOUR STATEMENT
"A boss's favorite is often the guy whom the boss can rely upon. Bosses tend to rely upon people who meet certain criteria. I know people who do good work, but they keep an aura of 'sadness' around them because they feel they are not sufficiently supported or rewarded. They are trusted team players, guys with good skills, but they are never the boss's favorite. And the majority of the posts on this thread indicate that they are in the right posture. On the other hand, there are others who do it, but are pretty 'happy' and help the boss maintain the impression that they are really feeling 'great' about what they do. Naturally, a boss would like that."
MY STATEMENT
"Boss's favorite = totally incompetent is something that was never implied, neither did I……but then I feel your question itself was not very clear, coz when you directly ask “Which is better: Being a boss's favorite or a 'trusted' team player?” I don’t think the answer is too difficult and that’s what most of us have responded with. So it’s better if your re-frame the question adding all those qualities to the Boss’s favorite which you are saying much later in the discussion. Am sure you will get different replies in that scenario."
Also, your query itself was a generic query not meant for YOU (at least I didn't know), henceforth my reply was also for a generic person not meant towards YOU. So, once again, my apologies, if it made you felt like that.
Thanks,
Sunita M
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Greetings for the day!
It's been quite enriching to go through your posts. Thanks for all the contributions you made.
Not taking much of your precious time this time, I simply would like to emphasize on what i have already said. Please see:
YOUR STATEMENT
"A boss's favorite is often the guy whom the boss can rely upon. Bosses tend to rely upon people who meet certain criteria. I know people who do good work, but they keep an aura of 'sadness' around them because they feel they are not sufficiently supported or rewarded. They are trusted team players, guys with good skills, but they are never the boss's favorite. And the majority of the posts on this thread indicate that they are in the right posture. On the other hand, there are others who do it, but are pretty 'happy' and help the boss maintain the impression that they are really feeling 'great' about what they do. Naturally, a boss would like that."
MY STATEMENT
"Boss's favorite = totally incompetent is something that was never implied, neither did I……but then I feel your question itself was not very clear, coz when you directly ask “Which is better: Being a boss's favorite or a 'trusted' team player?” I don’t think the answer is too difficult and that’s what most of us have responded with. So it’s better if your re-frame the question adding all those qualities to the Boss’s favorite which you are saying much later in the discussion. Am sure you will get different replies in that scenario."
Also, your query itself was a generic query not meant for YOU (at least I didn't know), henceforth my reply was also for a generic person not meant towards YOU. So, once again, my apologies, if it made you felt like that.
Thanks,
Sunita M
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
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