Hard-Work
Pays Seldom – Managing Boss Always
The key to improve your work life is never built up in your
job but it is there in your relationship with the Boss. Time immemorial, Boss and
Junior have a long history of creating patterns of communication and
non-communication. That leaves little room for innovation & enthusiasm.
It is a ground reality that you can choose the Juniors but
you can’t choose the Boss. We are not
talking about the Industrialists whose son or daughter starts the career as Boss
because it will deviate our discussion and the spirit of this article. Well it
is a matter of debate that even in the big industrial houses the owner feels
that after acquiring the required professional qualification, the next
generation should start the career with a learning phase. It may not be
possible to have the learning in the capacity of the Junior because he/ she is
identified as a person born with golden spoon. Much away from the industrial
houses, our history speaks that a king was made even at the tender age of
twelve and learnt the skills of a ruler with the span of time. Somehow the same
legacy went on for business tycoons also where generation after generation, the
Bosses were born.
No
two Bosses can be the same
Let us come back to the core issue of managing the Boss or
how to be a good Boss. In the beginning of a career, young person feels
comfortable to act like a Junior learning and following the instructions. Even
the most successful Bosses in their long career encountered difficult situations
while dealing with the Boss. No two Bosses are the same. But the Junior remains
the same, looking for his comfort zone while working under the leadership of
different Bosses. In spite of having exemplary professional qualifications,
with required intelligence and intellectualness one cannot find the peace of
mind in the job unless he has learnt the art of managing the Boss. There are
unforeseen peculiar situations in the career where you work under different
kind of Bosses.
Looking
for a Leader in the Boss
We can find four categories of Bosses and it is necessary
to discuss some basic characteristics of each one of them. Let us talk about
them.
At first there comes the one who can be named as the
drive leader as a classic tyrant having total control, he manages by
intimidation forcing his Juniors to prove their loyalty instead of their worth.
The second comes a lady Boss as the default
leader who employs sink - or - swim method of management where her Juniors gets
little or no guidance for feedback but if they don’t perform they are fired.
The third category of Boss can be named as a draw
leader who brings out the best in his Juniors by praising their
achievements. He is always eager to make innovations even when it is not
needed.
In the fourth category again it comes the lady as develop
leader who encourages her Juniors to develop confidence and self esteem so
as to take the risk. They learn a lot from her by getting benefit while working
closely with her.
Though we have categorised Bosses in the above four
categories as leader but a good Junior perhaps feels that his Boss displays all
the above qualities, once he tries to evaluate him By doing so the Junior is on
his way to achieve a better working relationship with Boss. Long ago Kahlil
Gibran beautifully said, “Work is love, made visible when you work with
love. You bind yourself to yourself and to one another as to God”.
How
do we perform in – Boss’s eye
As human being, we
have different roles to play, much away from Boss to Junior, it is the role of
father, mother, son, daughter, friend or even acquaintance. In all walks of
life, there is inherent desire to know as to what other thinks about us. How we
perform in the eye of others. It is there, while playing any role. If we talk about
the Boss-Junior relationship, the appraisal is the most important thing. It is
always in his mind as to how well is he performing whether he is performing up
to the expectation of the Boss. This desire may be for reward, appreciation, or
sheer satisfaction.
We may recall an interesting
story. There was a young man, talking on telephone with the speaker on, in such
a manner that the conversation from both the sides could be heard by a person,
standing nearby. It all started with the sentence:
Sir, I think you need a servant.
The other side said, No, I
don’t need a servant.
But Sir, I am a very obedient,
hardworking and sincere person.
My servant is also hardworking,
obedient and sincere.
Sir, I know typing on computer
and I can work as your assistant, besides doing the entire household jobs.
My servant is also doing all
that, why are you wasting time ? I don’t need your services.
Sir, I know driving too, so by
employing me, you will be able to save money for the driver.
My servant knows driving and don’t
tell me all these things. I am very much happy with my servant,
why are you unnecessarily asking me to employ you, when I am in no need of servant.
Sir I will take only five
thousand rupees per month for doing all these jobs.
Don’t repeat all this, my
servant takes five thousands rupees per month, rather for his excellent work I
have decided to increase his salary to seven thousands per month.
But Sir...
Stop it!
And the man hangs up the phone.
The above conversation was being heard by that person who was
standing there. He felt pity on that young man. He said, “I am really feeling
sorry that you could not get the job inspite of all your persuasive talks and
all the qualities you projected about yourself. I really feel for you. Sorry
young man, but it is life, try again!”
Now it was the turn of the young man who smiled and said
“Oh! You are mistaken, don’t feel sorry about me. Rather I am too happy today.
Because I am the servant who is working with him. Today, I got the appraisal for my performance
with the good news of two thousands rupees salary increase.”
The moral of the story is that every Junior looks for
appraisal of his performance. We are not going deal with main issue as to how
to manage the Boss. So, now let us come back to our work-life...
One
cannot choose the Boss
As we have already said that it cannot be our choice to
have a Boss of our liking, but in any case we need to work and grow in the
organisation, stepping from ladder to another. It has been generally
experienced that the Bosses believe in the theory of parent, adult, child where
their most preferred work situation is father to child, not adult to adult.
Most of the Bosses prefer “yes man” - An obedient, sincere and devoted Junior
is their first choice. Nobody is perfect in this world and
nobody can define, as to what is actual perfection, it is always the decision
of the Boss as to what is perfection for accomplishment of the task by Junior.
Every Junior wants to come up to the expectation of the Boss.
A big question comes as to whether sincerity, honesty,
hard-work, knowledge, ability, experience and self motivation, etc. are
sufficient to rise in the career. Theoretically speaking, these qualities
should be enough for a steady rise in the career. But it so happens that the
personality factor, ego-clash, interpersonal conflicts, complexes of different
kind – inferiority and superiority, and the behaviourial aspects, human
relations, by pass all the core quality issues, on which success should be
dependent. We need to analyse what is
the reason for not achieving success in spite of required qualities in a Junior.
We have to find out the solution also as to how one can manage the Boss.
Fine
art of Flattering – a magic
A very few of you must have read the world famous book “How
to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, where large number of
life situations have been discussed with the objective of attaining happiness.
Here, in the context of Boss-Junior relationship we would like to discuss the
fine art of flattery because an oily tongue is the best means to give you an
upper hand in official hierarchy. We must admire Americans who have written
books on all considerable subjects under the sun. It is our strong belief that
with a bit of enthusiasm anyone can master anything. There was a time when
public speaking, writing skills, acting on the stage, articulation,
self-confidence were considered God given natural gifts. But when we look the
American way of life, it shows that all these qualities can be mastered by way
of proper learning and practice.
There
is no dearth of self-help books in the market, you go to any book shop and see
large number of books with titles, “How to succeed in selling ?”, “How to stop
worrying ?”, “How to write ?” How to act on stage ?”, “How to get rid of
nagging wife ?”, “How to marry someone you can live your life happily ?”, “How
to entice you lady secretary ?”, “How to be friendly with your neighbour’s wife
?”, and most importantly, “How to impress the Boss ?”. All these titles have
come from the authors with American background perhaps it suits the temperament
in US. However, we can always apply the general principles underlying there,
with suitable modifications for Indian conditions.
Success
is dependent on Boss
Now let us talk as to how to succeed in your official
career. To begin with, let us clarify in the words of Bernard Shaw, “One who
knows, does, One who does not know, teaches”. Although on the face of it,
this statement looks cynical and absurd but it is cent percent true. Just make
a round of any famous seat of learning, in any history across the world, you
will find that the persons teaching law are poor Advocates and lawyers. They
failed at the bar and became professors. The professor of business management
cannot manage even a small shop in reality. In medical colleges, the professor
teaching surgeries might be very poor surgeon. Coming to sports, a coach who
teaches boxing, might have never won a single bout in his life. These
situations are so true in every avocation, you will find that the persons who
teach dancing, acting and film direction, could not make any
mark in the field of their expertise just think if they were being able to act
or direct a film, they would have done so and earn crores of rupees, rather
than earning few lakhs as teachers.
The studies have been conducted probing above issues, for
the persons who have succeeded in life and those who have not succeeded. It proved
useful for the persons who have ambition and Will to succeed in life.
Flattering
/ Like Buttering the Toast
In order to achieve success in life, the first lesson to be
learnt is to master the “fine art of flattery”. This is also called buttering
because it has great similarity to the act of buttering a toast. The butter
should neither be too much nor too less, it must be soaked in the toast, but
should neither be visible nor soil the fingers. The toast should be buttered at
the right time, it should not be very hot because butter melts quickly on a hot
toast. On the other hand, it should not be cold. The same philosophy is to be
applied in case of flattering the Boss as buttering. It should not be too obvious, the Boss should
not feel that he is being flattered. At
the same time, it should be effective and pleasant to hear by Boss and his ears
should be anxious to feel flattering words like the ears of a bride, who wants
to hear from the groom about her beauty.
The choice of the right time, the right person, in the
right mood, the right place, and the right words can only give the right push.
Why we are emphasising on these rights because once a very senior officer,
wrote on the character role of Junior officer, “His method of flattering is
very crude.” It shows that although he liked the flattery, but did not
appreciated the method of doing it. There is no one in this world, who does not
like flattery. Even the Almighty God likes flattery. All the religious books
and prayers are full of flattery to God. Give a look to shloka 36- 47 of Chapter IX of Bhagwat Gita which illustrates this
point. Just see when God can be pleased by flattery then it is no wonder, if
the ordinary human being are also reacting in the same manner. If you
want to rise in the official hierarchy quickly then you must be proficient in
the fine art of flattery. Once you have realised and accepted the importance of
art of flattery, then it must be clear in your mind as to how you are going to
use it to further your interest. As a Junior, you must make up your mind for
the aim and objective and draw up an action plan, by identifying the target as
to who is the real Boss, to grant you success. You have to be very selective on
whom you are going to apply and practice the art of flattering. It is not an
easy task because it is not a question of flattering only one Boss all the
time, but there are people superior to you, who can be instrumental for your success,
therefore you have to find out the right person, whom to flatter, the right
time, the right mood, and the right place. These are the most important aspects
for successful application of art of flattery. Why we are saying so because at
times it has been experienced that people flatter those persons who are unable
to do any good to them and they flattered the wrong person and faced disastrous
results.
Looking
for a role model in Boss
As a Junior, once
you identify the right Boss, then you need to imitate the habits, moods,
fashions, and etiquettes of the Boss, since imitation is the best form of
flattery. There is a Persian saying that “Every vice that the king has is a
virtue. Whatever the king does, the courtiers must do”. Similarly if the Boss
plays the bridge or chess, you must learn to play the same. If he likes tennis
or badminton then you need to play these games or be in the ground. It may go
to the extent that if the Boss smokes and drinks, the flatterer should also
develop similar habits; he must smoke or drink the brand of Boss’s liking. While
imitating the Boss, you are doing flattery in the most subtle form.
Now, comes the most important technique that you should
acquire, it is the habit of never criticising any action of the Boss. You
should treat the Boss as an ideal man. He should be personified as greatest.
All his actions are exemplary in nature, you should feel as if, he is the king
and the king can do no wrong. Apply this in your day to day conversation with
the Boss. There is an interesting example you should follow by understanding
from two situations narrated here.
The Boss while
coming to office, brought an umbrella, the Junior saw him and said, “Sir, it is
not raining, why did you bring the umbrella?
The Boss replied
“In today’s newspaper, it is said that it might be raining today evening”.
The Junior said
“Sir, weather reports are always wrong. We should not believe them”.
The Boss said, “Even
if there is no rain, the umbrella can protect one from the heat of the sun.”
The Junior never
hesitated in contradicting the Boss by saying, “Sir, today’s sunshine is very
pleasant. We should not use an umbrella to prevent the rays of the sun from the
invigorating our body.”
This conversation
annoyed the Boss to a great extent and he did not further reply to the Junior
and fired him even for the smallest lapse committed by the Junior during the
entire day.
We must analyse the
above situation which goes against the art of flattery. The things could have
been much simpler and pleasant, if the Junior could have been the “yes man”.
You may recall the conversation of Akbar and Birbal for Aubergine/Bringal story
that still makes sense.
Let us repeat the same conversation as to how it could go
with the art of flattery.
The Junior said “good morning
Sir, It is really a fine idea to bring the umbrella. A fool like me could not
foresee that it might be raining in the evening.”
The Boss replied, “Even if raining
is not there. The umbrella will help me to protect from the sun’s rays.”
The Junior politely says, “Well
Sir, this point never entered in my dull brain. It is only a man like you who
can see the things from all angles.”
The Boss said, “Well it is
nothing! I just read the weather report in today’s newspaper and brought the
umbrella.”
The Junior flattered the Boss
by saying, “Sir this is called memory. We read and forget, but never make any
use of information, like your good self.”
Later the above conversation led to a good impression of Junior
in the mind of the Boss, he invited him to his room and shared a coffee. The
whole day was spent in a very pleasant manner.
Self-condemnation
– A necessity
Now let us talk about self-condemnation. Whenever you are
with the Boss, always be prompt enough to take the blame upon yourself, if
anything goes wrong. It is going to give the feeling in the mind of Boss that
even though he was at fault. It was you who
had the courage to take the blame and he will protect you.
Once a Junior was
explaining a point to his Boss, he explained thrice but the dull headed Boss,
could not understand the issue. In utter disgust, the foolish Junior said, “what
can I do Sir? You do not have brains to understand it.” The Boss felt enraged
and asked him to get out. After he left, the Boss told his colleagues, “it is
alright that I could not understand but he should not have pointed out so
curtly, after all he should have told me, Sir I am unable to explain, but I
will still try”.
Self-condemnation is not easy for a Junior to cultivate as
a habit because it requires great amount of patience. Whenever you are with the
Boss be prepared and prompt enough to take the blame upon yourself, especially
when something goes wrong. This self condemnation will generate a great feeling
in the mind of Boss with realisation that even though he himself was wrong, but
you had the courage to take the blame.
Renunciation
requires great patience
Let us take another
example with little difference from self-condemnation, it is renunciation,
meaning thereby that Junior should never take the credit for any good thing
done by him even if the work has been done by him. Sometimes, an important
letter is prepared by the Junior to be signed by the Boss to beseech appreciation
of receiver. Let, it go and Boss may take the credit from higher ups without
reflecting your contribution. The Junior should never try to disclose about the
efforts made by him, allow the appreciation to be taken by the Boss. Follow the
teachings of Lord Krishna, in Shloka 12 of chapter 12 in the Gita, which says “Renounce
all the fruits of action and have peace”. Mainly because the Junior is
working for the Boss and his purpose is solved when he has done the job. The Boss
will naturally feel happy that his Junior has made him to take the credit for
the work which was not actually performed by him.
We may recall a real incident as to how the renunciation
has paid dividends to a very senior officer in the government sector. Once a Regional
Commissioner got an assignment to work for International Labour Organisation
project, he got the approval for making study tours within India for data
collection. Every time he used to make
the paper, it was a routine practice to inform the Chief Commissioner about the
progress made with the words that he is doing the job because of guidance given
by the Chief Commissioner. The Chief Commissioner used to feel happy and always
gave him all required approvals. Finally a day came, when the regional
commissioner was invited to present the paper in ILO conference at Geneva, which
required mandatory approval by Government of India on the recommendation of Chief
Commissioner. While seeking approval the regional commissioner as Junior
mentioned in bold letters on the cover page of research document “under the
guidance of Chief Commissioner (by name)”. Now it was the turn of Chief Commissioner
to call him, asking “Why you have mentioned my name, when it is your work and
it has been done by you only.” The Regional
Commissioner replied in a very humble manner. “Sir you are so knowledgeable that you never
know that your simple talks are having golden words which can be taken as
fruitful advice and guidance which was very useful for my research work
Therefore, I rightly mentioned your name, otherwise also you are a renowned
figure internationally and your name is going to be a great value addition for
my work.” The Chief Commissioner was so happy with this renunciation that he
not only recommended official foreign visit but ensured that the same is
approved by the government. Finally the brilliant work of Regional Commissioner
was commended in the conference at Geneva and he was rewarded with a cash prize
of five thousand US dollars with a letter of appreciation. While returning to
India religiously the regional commissioner took two identical gift items worth
two thousand five hundred dollars each. He met the Chief Commissioner and
showed his appreciation letter which was also having his name as guide. He
handed over the gift item to the Chief Commissioner. At first instance, the Chief
Commissioner refused to take the gift but it was a tactful art of flattery on
the part of Regional Commissioner to convince the Boss to accept the same for
his role as a guide. He really proved as master of flattery and it gave him a
long lasting effect, in the form of out of turn promotion.
Unnatural
reaction to appear natural
Well we have said about this renunciation which can be
taken as a unnatural reaction because as a Junior one should conceal his
feelings so tactfully that it looks as a natural reaction. Let us take few examples based on principle of
unnatural reaction, there was an assistant engineer who was highly qualified
with a brilliant track record, he was assigned the job of making the drawings
of a flyover for a turn-key project. Unfortunately, he had a Boss who became
superintending engineer by virtue of seniority though we had a diploma
qualifications only. The Boss had no knowledge and calibre to understand the
modalities of making the drawings for the flyover, but he had enough power and
authority to criticise the design made by assistant engineer by, pin-pointing
number of deficiencies in the design in a foolish manner without knowing the
technicalities of the matter. Now there can be a natural reaction of assistant
engineer to understand the lack of knowledge of the Boss and he could resent to
the criticism by entering into an argument.
But as master of flattery, the assistant engineer needs to act in a
different manner by saying to the Boss that he had got very little experience
which only comes with age and maturity. Therefore, he is obliged by the
suggestions made by the Boss and he will try his level best to incorporate the
valuable advice given by the Boss.
The principles of unnatural reaction are very important for
a Junior to please the Boss; therefore, it will be worthwhile to narrate
another example. Once a young man with first class English Honours degree
joined government office as “clerk” but his immediate Boss at the level of
section officer was only a matriculate, who was very poor in English. The clerk
used to prepare excellent drafts and notes in English. The Boss was in the
habit of making unnecessary corrections all the time, which were making no
sense. The clerk used to get firing for those corrections made by the Boss. The
natural reaction of the Junior would be to protest against the corrections made
and to point out that the same were not even grammatically correct. But as master of flattery the clerk is required
to go to the Boss with a smile saying to him that the English which was taught
to the Boss at the time of schooling was of very high standard. The present day
teachers who taught him were not knowing the language therefore, he will try to
learn from the Boss as per corrections made. Here, he needs to be very tactful
in making the situation look like that the perfect English used by him has
actually came from the corrections made by the Boss. It will not be easy for
the Boss to refuse the correct drafts made by him, once the Junior has
appreciated the knowledge level of the Boss.
The above concept of making the Boss happy by following the
principle of unnatural reaction is the backbone of art of flattery and if a Junior
wants to master this art he has to act in a very perfect manner without making
the Boss to realise the actual position.
Let us discuss one
more situation to clarify this point. There was a brilliant chartered
accountant with post-graduate degrees from India and abroad with hands-on experience.
He joined a big company as accounts officer where unfortunately his Boss who
was heading the accounts department was a Brigadier who joined after taking
pre-mature retirement from Army. It was not known to the accounts officer as to
why the Brigadier was made his Boss in spite of the fact that his knowledge of
accountancy was like what a wrestler knows about classical music. But in any
case, the Brigadier was the Boss who was always finding one fault or the other
in the accounts statements made by the accounts officer. As a matter of fact,
the Boss was pointing out irrelevant baseless errors which were unfounded. It
was looking absurd by the accounts officer who was expert in the field. The
natural reaction of the Junior in this case would have been to show the Boss
that whatever he has prepared is perfectly alright according to the principles
of accounting. But the unnatural reaction as a master of flattery on the part
of Junior should be to praise the Boss’s common sense with the saying that the Boss
knows more about accounting theory than even ‘carter of batliboi’. He needs to
exhibit that his knowledge of accountancy is bookish whereas the knowledge of
his Boss is based on horse- sense. The paper degrees of Junior are nothing as
compared to the knowledge of the Boss which is acquired during long experience
in the Army.
Diplomacy
in flattering is a must
We have been talking about, the art of flattery its various
dimensions and ways and means to practise it. But it will be a great failure in
case the Junior is not learning the diplomacy in flattery mainly because the Junior
should not praise the Boss directly in very explicit way. The praises should
not be unrealistic. At times, the Junior should praise the Boss at his back
before those persons who are very close and intimate to the Boss so that the Boss
should come to know about flattering words used by the Junior from the mouth of
others. Whenever the flattery is made in the presence of Boss it must be in a
very dignified manner. It should not look cheap. Only those qualities of the Boss
should be praised which are abstract in nature and do not concern outward
physical qualities of the Boss, otherwise he will come to know that it is not
the real praise but he is being flattered unnecessarily.
Yes
Boss
Another important principle for the art of flattery as a
value addition comes in the form of “yesmanship”. The Junior should always
remember to say “yes” to whatever command the Boss gives because no Boss would
like the word “no” from Junior even if order is impractical or suggestions made
by him are absurd. The Junior should make genuine even though hypocritical
efforts to comply with and implement those orders and suggestions. Well in due
course of time, the Boss will come to know the consequences of his order or he
will realise the absurdity and impossibility of his orders later on. In that
case, he is going to ask Junior to stop further action in the matter. On the
other hand, if the Junior says “no” or if he says that the suggestions were
absurd, then it is going to spoil Boss-Junior relationship. Learning and
practicing the art of “yesmanship” is going to prove Junior as dependable in
the eye of Boss and he will do everything to enable the Junior to attain
whatever he aspires to.
Flattery
– Not everybody’s cup of tea
Whatever said and done talking about
flattery, we cannot take it granted that every Junior can learn this art and
practice convincingly. You require a great amount of not only conviction but
acceptance from your conscious because every junior has got his own value
system and professional ethics. Not everybody looks for professional success only
in life but some people aim to have contentment and satisfaction which is
supreme for them, when it comes to the question of priority. Flattering the Boss
requires a great amount of compromise when the junior is not convinced
internally to practice the various techniques we have discussed. When a junior
witnesses quick success in career among peers as compared to sincere hard-work,
it appears to him as a short cut to success which motivates him to try this art
of flattery. Let us understand this dilemma from a true story.
A professionally qualified young man
joined as executive in the government sector. It was all going smooth ride
working with the organisation but the promotions were dependent strictly on the
basis of unilateral non-objective performance appraisal. People were in the queue
aspiring the next ladder in hierarchy. The criterion for assessment as
excellent and outstanding was solely in the hands of the Boss. Flattering the
Boss by the Juniors was the easy way to get excellent reports. This young man
was feeling quite amused, rather confused as to which way to go? He learnt from
his parents that hard-work, sincerity, devotion to duty is the only key for
success but he was finding quite a reverse situation in real-life situation.
One day, he was going to office with his colleague who was
carrying a big bouquet of flowers and a beautiful birthday card, perhaps a costly
one. Before he could muster the courage of asking the colleague as to why he is
carrying these articles, the colleague sarcastically remarked “I feel you may
not get the promotion in near future because you don’t know how to flatter the
Boss. Look today is the birthday of boss and I have taken great care to take
these flowers and the card which is liked by the Boss. These are the days of
appraisal and my wishing to Boss on his birthday is going to please him. I
really feel pity on you that you are going empty hand.” The young man had no answer.
It so happened that the young man also entered the office
of boss when the colleague presented the bouquet to Boss with the card wishing
“happy birthday”. The Boss was so happy that he not only shook hand but hugged
the colleague with great gratitude saying “So nice of you, I am really happy
that you could remember my birthday, please have the seat.” The young man also
wished the Boss for which the reply came “It’s okay, now white going to your
seat just tell the canteen boy to bring two cups of coffee for us.” The young
man really got demoralised and depressed due to insulting behaviour of the Boss
which he could make out from the gestures. There was no other way except to
follow the instructions of the Boss to order coffee.
There was a great turmoil in the mind
of young man he thought that wishing birthday is not a big deal if it can
please the Boss, there is no harm in doing this much flattery, so he went to
the section where personal records of all the senior officers were kept, he
managed to know the date of birth of a Boss who was much superior to his
immediate Boss. He thought it will be a good idea to be the first person to
wish the Boss’s Boss because in any case the supreme
authority to grade
his final report. On
particular day he came early to
the office with a very big flower bouquet and the costliest available birthday
card. He waited for the arrival of Boss. Soon after the Boss sat in his cabin, he
mustered the courage to knock the door and said, “Sir, Many many happy returns
of the day! It is my privilege to greet you with these flowers and my heartfelt
wishes written on this frolic card.” While he was keeping the bouquet and the
card on the table looking for desired response, he got the biggest shock of his
life when the boss rebuked “What is this? Today is not my birthday. Who told
you to do all this? Have some sense, take this all. By the way, what makes you to think that
today is my birthday?” The young man got quite nervous and tears were about to
come in his eyes. Looking down on the
floor with cross hands, he said, “Sir, I personally noted your date of birth
from the records section where the personal dossiers are kept.” The Boss
angrily replied, “Oh my god! What a man you are? You are making enquiries from
my personal records, how dare you? Look the date of birth mentioned in my
records is not correct. Today is not my birthday and I need to warn you,
concentrate on your job rather than doing all this. Now get out and take all
these things!” The young man burnt his fingers for the second time.
The above failed attempt of flattery never demotivated the
young man because he was convinced that still this much flattery of wishing the
birthday he can afford, because it is quite a natural thing to greet any Boss
on birthday, so why he should not make another attempt and this time without
any fault by knowing the correct date of birth.
Later-on, the young man got transferred to another station
with a new Boss. Now it was all good congenial atmosphere where the Boss was a
happy go lucky man with a poetic heart. The young man was very careful for not
taking any chance to repeat the failed attempt.
Fortunately, one day while the Boss was talking on telephone to somebody,
he could secretly hear the conversation of the Boss when he was telling to
someone that his correct date of birth is not known to anybody since the
official records carry a wrong date. He said that his actual date of birth is
14th November and not 14th December as recorded in the
personal dossiers. The young man felt as if he got the key for a treasure. Months
passed in waiting for November to come. All preparations were made by him to
have the flower bouquet which was unique from the best florist shop of the
town, this time, the card he took was having many leafs with birthday wishes in
poetic form. Matching with the taste and liking of the Boss. Lot of ideas keep cropping
up mind. He could not sleep the whole night of 13th November. Finally he planned to visit the bungalow of
the Boss instead of making it in office since Boss always do morning walk in
the lawn. At a distance he saw that the boss is playing with the flowers and
was looking quite cheerful.
Having smile on his face with full zeal and confidence, he
entered the bungalow and approached the Boss “Good morning Sir, Many-many happy
returns of the day!” It was the happiest moment for him when Boss while
thanking, shook hands and embraced him. “So nice of you! Such a pleasant
surprise! Come, let me see this beautiful card, what a great wordings,
wonderful!” He took him to the swing at the corner of the lawn, they both sat
together, when Boss started reading various leafs of the card, it was all
praises, coming from the boss. The young
man was delighted but he never knew that yet another shock was awaiting in the
most disastrous manner. The Boss asked
him. “Well! I am so happy for this unexpected birthday wish because nobody
knows my correct date of birth, really I am surprised! But tell me, how could you know about my
correct date of birth?” The young man smiled, “Sir, please don’t ask, it is a
secret.” “Come on, tell me!” The boss
remarked. “Please Sir, don’t ask me, it is really a secret!” “It is not done,
you have to tell me” the Boss said. “Okay Sir, if you are pressing me to
disclose, let me tell you Sir, you never know, once you were talking to
somebody on phone, when I secretly, heard the conversation, and noted that very
moment, that you are a scorpio like me born on 14th November.” The
Boss became furious, “Get up! I thought you are a gentlemen, a nice guy, but
you turned out to be very dangerous, you secretly hear my private
conversations! Oh my god! What else have you heard? It is not done, I have to
be very careful about you. Look in
future don’t enter my room without knocking. I really feel sorry for keeping
such a man like you. It is my final warning, now go and take these flowers and
the card! I don’t feel like accepting from a person like you, who has the habit
of listening the private and personal conversations secretly.”
Now it was the last day for this
young man when he attempted to flatter Boss. He made a personal commitment to
himself that flattery is not his cup of tea and he has to surrender depending
on his hard-work for success in career.
The moral of this true story is to do flattery when you are
convinced and have conviction that you can really do it. Because it requires a
great amount of flexibility in ideas and practicability of the concepts of the
art of flattery as we had been discussing.
Be
Ungrateful to Boss in distress
Finally there is piece of advice for a Junior that he
should not succumb to “hero-worship”, when the Junior finds that the Boss to
whom he was flattering is about to fall because of his misdeeds and corruption
then it is better that Junior must leave him in time, Otherwise, it will be
dangerous to have association with the Boss who is a falling hero. If the Boss
is in difficulty for his dishonesty, the Junior should try to be as far away
from him as possible so that he may not share the fate of the Boss. It looks ethically
wrong but it is required on the part of Junior to be an opportunist by
forgetting whatever the Boss has done for him. The Junior cannot and should not
afford to be the party for wrongful deeds and dishonest acts of the Boss. In that situation he needs to be completely
ungrateful. It will be better for the Junior to pretend as if he never knew the
Boss. The Junior should understand plainly that he worshipped the “chair” and
not the man. These acts may look ungrateful on the part of Junior but there
should not be any compromise in the matter of values and ethics. One should be sure that honesty is the best
policy come what may in all times to come.
Golden
Principles to follow
Now let us summarise this Boss-management phenomena in
specific terms by saying some Dos and Don’ts which are relevant to be
remembered as necessary part of flattery.
Dos for Junior
for his Boss:
- Praise the sense of justice and
fairness
- Praise magnanimity and boldness
- Praise sense of proportion and
foresight
- Praise intelligence,
tactfulness and learning
- Do as much publicity to the
achievements of the Boss as possible
- Render as much personal service
as one can do
- Laugh loudly at the jokes cracked
by the Boss
- Attend all functions where the Boss
is likely to be present
- Criticise the persons not liked
by the Boss and who do not cooperate with him
Don’ts for the Junior for his Boss:
- Never praise the predecessors
of the Boss and his colleagues
- Never praise the physical
quality which the Boss does not possess
- Never mention the weaknesses of
the Boss
- Never disclose the secrets
about the Boss, pretend unawareness
- Never try to be very intimate
with the Boss, keep distance especially before others
- Never try to be familiar with
the Boss’s wife or female friends
- Never show any curiosity about
the personal matters of the Boss
- Never talk about the private
life of the Boss with other Juniors
While discussing and explaining various aspects of Boss
management by way of various techniques with the support of real-life
situations one needs to be convinced that for success in career the learning
and practicing the art of flattery as envisaged here is necessary. Now a
natural question comes about the reliability and validity of these techniques. It
will come when the Junior will feel the success which will come in the form of
gaining the confidence of the Boss. He
will start discussing personal matters and confidential cases with the Junior. At this stage Junior can feel sure about the
success. It will be the opportune time when he can express his desire before
the Boss. The Junior should be rest assured that the Boss will fulfil his
ambition.
Brief
profile of Prof. (Dr.) Dewakar Goel
Prof.
(Dr.) Dewakar Goel is a Science & Law Graduate with Masters in Business
Administration. Having specialized in
Labour Laws from Indian Law Institute, he did his Post Graduate Diploma in
Personnel Management & Industrial Relations and also in Training &
Development from ISTD. A Ph.D. in
Management under guidance of Prof. (Dr.) Sadhan Das Gupta, Calcutta University.
He acquired INDIA -ICAO Fellowship in the year 2010.
In the
beginning of the career, he practiced as Advocate at Delhi High Court. Dr. Goel has authored 12 books which
includes books on Management and Law published by eminent publishers. His books
have been translated into Bangla, Tamil, Urdu and other languages.
Having
served in the private sector for over seven years as a hard core HR
Professional dealing with Personnel & Administration. He topped in the merit list for selection at
managerial position in the government sector and stepped up in the ladder of hierarchy while serving in Mumbai,
Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai. He rose to the level of HR head during last one
decade in the most prestigious schedule “A” PSE.
Dr. Goel is Doctoral Research
Supervisor in Business Management, Banasthali
University
and also Advisory Board Member, Centre for Financial Planning Training
&
Research for Women, Banasthali University, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
American
University of India, Kodaikanal and Pondicherry University. He is also
Research
examiner for Indian institute of public administration and other reputed
universities.
Adding
feathers to his cap, he is HR Consultant with International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), Montreal, Canada and Human Performance Technologist of
International Air Transport Association (IATA) Geneva, Switzerland. He is a Visiting Faculty and Advisor of
highly regarded Management Institutes in India and abroad. He has addressed large number of National
& International Conferences as Chairperson and Key Note Speaker.
As
multi-faceted personality, he has been profiled by print & media in
newspapers and TV channels for his poems, stories, articles and research papers
are published in national & international journals.
good article
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