Monday, April 15, 2013

Bosses

I was reading a very nice post titled Horrible Bosses written by Ash.  That prompted me to write this post about the eccentric behavior of one of my bosses.  She was not horrible.
 
My first boss was Helen L.  I have already written about her long time ago.  When I went for the interview, after a lot of questions, she finally asked me if I have supervisory experience.  I said yes.  She then asked me if I have ever supervised Americans.  My instinct was to say no.  But I thought about it for 20 seconds. It looked like 20 hours.  I then replied: Why are you asking me this question?  Are they difficult to supervise?  She laughed and laughed and laughed.  And then said, you are hired.
 
Helen always thought if she is not in the office nothing will go right.  The whole place will crumble.  Whenever she takes a few hours off or a day off or takes a vacation, she would ask me if I can manage my unit without her being in the office.  For a few times, I made the mistake of telling her I can handle any situation during her absence and she should not worry.  When she comes back from the day off, she would ask a thousand questions and rip me apart purposely.
 
I am a fast learner.  After a few times, I learned the art of dealing her.  Whenever she takes even a few hours off (like a dentist appointment) she would ask me if I can manage my unit in her absence.  I would say: I will try Helen.  Can you give me the phone number of your dentist so I can call you if there is an emergency?  (There were no cell phones in those days.)  She would say “Don’t worry.  You can handle it.”  When she comes back from the dentist, she will never ask me any question.
 
Whenever she is going to be on vacation, I would always say “I don’t know if I can handle or not.  I will try.  Give me your contact number in case there is an emergency”.  She was happy.  My life became smooth.

24 comments:

  1. Interesting. If I had said this to my boss, he would have misfired me saying that you are not ready to shoulder responsibilities huh!

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  2. So you learnt how to handle your boss:-)

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  3. Thanks for your comments Ekta. At first I told her I can manage and that got me into trouble. She wanted to feel important. So I had to change my tactic.

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  4. Thanks for your comments Chitra. Yup, I learnt finally.

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  5. Bosses are like dirty diapers.
    Always on your ass...and usually full of sh**.

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  6. Thanks for your comments The Cagey Bee. And, thanks for those inspirational words of wisdom.

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  7. Loved this one - reminded me of my previous boss :)

    BTW

    Hey, you have just been awarded a Liebster award!

    For details please check here:

    http://wingstomywords.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-perfect-sunday.html

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  8. Thanks for your comments Me. You had a similar boss? Now I know what you experienced.

    Thank you very much for your award. I am grateful Me.

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  9. It's just plain ego and superiority complex combined with insecurity. That's the trait of many bosses.

    Destination Infninity

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  10. That was a good idea for handling Helen, the great! Her ego is satisfied!

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  11. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. It was just plain ego. Otherwise, she is a nice person.

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  12. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. In the end, she was happy. My life became smooth.

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  13. interesting and this experience will teach lot to freshers

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  14. Thanks for your comments sm. You are correct.

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  15. if i would have said the same .. my boss will say, you are good for nothing, you can't even take one responsibility ..what is this trying part ? .. lol

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  16. Thanks for your comments Rahul. But here the situation was different. She had a big ego and felt without her presence the office will not function.

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  17. This is the real'Art of Living'.Interesting,SG.

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  18. Thanks for your comments Sarala. I am glad youn liked this post.

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  19. Boss management is part of career growth.. you obviously learnt how to do that well :) But Helen sounds nice.

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  20. Thanks for your comments Meera. Yes, Helen is a nice person.

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  21. Bosses! What to say about them?!!

    Good work in handling yours...

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  22. Thanks for your comments Aparna. I am glad you liked this post.

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  23. That was a nice idea SG. Am gonna try implementing it :)

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  24. Thanks for your comments Gopikaa. And, welcome to my blog. Let me know how it turned out.

    Gopikaa, please visit here as often as possible. Thanks.

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