Saturday 10 August 2013

Boss - Employee relationship

In her one year of working at this firm, Mfon got all the scolding she had not got since she was a child. With a boss throwing tantrums like this every now and then, he is worse than a woman going through that time of the month. It is usually women who are this bad she thought to herself, but not in this case!

She decided to track his record...previous employees all found that he was a horrible boss and couldn't put up with his tantrums for very long. She decided to be the different one and see this through. He would bend this time and not the other way round. Feisty she had been told she was but it was about to be displayed at the very maximum.

She talked with a friend who manages a major organization and his advise to her was simple 'bad managers are everywhere and you will always meet them, count yourself lucky to have a good one'. She had to read between the lines and her own interpretation of the statement was...be the best you can be given the circumstance! Zeal renewed and her challenge belt worn, that was what she was determined to be.


It takes some effort to be up there. Are you ready to put in what is required?


Back at work, there were three categories of people...'the scheming ones', 'the indecisive ones' and 'those who were certain about what needed to be done'. Mfon happened to fall into the last category which often landed her in trouble as she was criticized especially by the tantrum throwing boss of hers who would not accept when he was wrong, or be corrected by his subordinates. Worse was that Mfon's scheming 'competition' happened to be able to scheme her way into boss man's mind. He would however always give room for Mfon's explanation which he would acknowledge as sensible at all times. Sadly, the moment the explanation ends, the sense gets thrown right out of the window. 

This is not the best position to be in, is it? 




Bringing this home, the beauty of bad management is that we can choose to learn from it and not apply such. We rise to manage others and the experiences we've previously had should be learnt from. It is easy to forget what it was like when we have risen to the top but remembering makes all the difference as that serves as a reminder to not do the same. Not everyone may have to manage many but one thing that is worth doing is to give a listening ear to subordinates. 


When employees feel like they are heard and appreciated by their bosses, they put in their best easily but if they feel like they aren't, that becomes a breeding ground for rebellion. 
On this subject, I found these posts on effective management useful, you might want to have a look:
5 tips from Forbes
WikiHow useful tips

Back to Mfon's work place, what category do you fall in? Yes, you reading this post, you work with people don't you? Where do you stand?



N.B
I apologize for not posting anything in so long. I was overwhelmed with a few things I committed myself to doing. I am back and hope to keep the posts coming. 
Thank you for reading and it will be nice to read your comments :-)

11 comments:

  1. Excellent dear

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  2. Beautiful write up..And yeah beautiful blog..God bless Y̶̲̥̅̊o̶̲̥̅̊u̶̲̥̅̊r hustle

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  3. Very helpful. Also liked the links on effective management. Good job girl ;-)

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  4. A lot of bosses easily forget when they were surbodinates.For some people, their real attributes show when they get to the top in their offices.Someone once said, some people are humble 2day just bcos money hasn't entered their pockets. As soon as it does, humility becomes extinct.

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    1. I agree Ene but it is a shame when this is the case as those experiences should serve as building blocs to being a good boss. Thanks for your comments, I'll keep doing my best :-)

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  5. Ene, your write ups are usually very nice. Well done.

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  6. You know, I've worked in quite a number of places and to be sincere there's just one of them that I can actually say had really good, employee focused management. However, I appreciate the experiences I gained in all the horrible places I worked, they've been priceless. Among other things I've learned how not to treat subordinates if you want the best from them.
    Now, that being said, I must also mention that it's not easy being a boss. There's more pressure on the boss than the subordinates to get things right and when things go wrong bosses bear bigger consequences than their minions. So next time your boss barks at you just count to 10 and give her her 70 excuses. And if that fails to calm you down don't hesitate to spit in her coffee.
    Thanks Ene!

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    1. Liz I totally agree with you! The experience you gain while working under bad managers is priceless. But how that experience is used is up to you.
      The 1 - 10 count works for me but giving excuses, I'm not sure about that.
      Being a boss is certainly a tough job but being a good one who balances things out is what makes the difference.
      Thanks for reading :-)

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  7. Thank you for reading Akhila, I am glad it helped.

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