Taking Advantage of a Good Boss

Taking Advantage of a Good Boss

Words by Francis Kahihu

kahihucareers@gmail.com

What images cross your mind any time you hear the word boss mentioned? Most likely, you would be thinking of this heartless human who at times you even wonder whether he is human. It could be that you start imagining of the sleepless nights you have had to endure as you pondered the next day’s planned meeting with your boss who you were convinced would see nothing positive in your presentation. Talking to many people indicates the nature of relations they have had with their bosses and the experiences they have gone through that they struggle to erase from their memories.

Many people tell horrid experiences with their bosses and would never consider their supervisors favorably. For such bosses, there is celebration at the workplace should rumors, just rumors, of their exit reach the rest of the team. To them, they would rather celebrate for a night at the imagination of such bosses’ departure and wake up to meet them at work the following day, but they would at least have rejoiced.

As much as this is true of some bosses, it is refreshing to realize that there are bosses who are such a darling to their colleagues. You may be surprised to note that there are bosses who plunge workplaces into mourning when they leave a company due to the great and pleasant relations they would have had with the other staff during their tenure. These are the supervisors who succeed in endearing themselves to the rest of the team and only consider themselves as first among equals.

Having a good boss is a great opportunity for a staff member for personal development and enhances service delivery. Staff who are supervised by bosses who value and respect them tend to be more productive as compared to those working under duress. Just like any other opportunity, having a good boss is an opportunity that can be taken advantage of. Resulting from the fact that the boss is not as strict as others, staff whose bosses are lenient tend to develop an easy going mentality to the affairs of the company. What could be some of the pointers to the fact that you might actually be taking advantage of a good boss?

For whatever reason, some very high performing employees tend to relax on the job and reduce on their productivity. They tend to court the enemy called average and seek greater company with complacency. To them, the reduction or absence of pressure from work is a great opportunity to provide just enough of what the employer wants. The fact that their bosses’ management style is not MBWA (Management By Walking Around) makes them comfortable with their performance since they know it will take a while for their droopiness to be discovered.

Another manifestation is seen in the dressing codes at work. Have you seen people who work under strict bosses? They dress appropriately since they are aware of the consequences of dressing otherwise. On the contrary, when the boss becomes so good, people relax on self policing and disregard generally acceptable standards of workplace dressing codes. This is hazardous since it affects the image of the employer and could jeopardize the job of your boss. The irony of the whole scenario is that some employees work so hard due to their neglect of duty, albeit subconsciously, to have their good bosses fired, and end up with cruel supervisors who transform workplaces to perpetual wells of stress.

Finally, you may have come across (or could actually be) a workmate who insists on being considered for a pay hike yet their productivity remains the same if not lower. Some employees who are lucky to land in the safe hands of good bosses consider the opportunities as cash cows to enhance their pay slips yet doing little to improve on their performance. Finding a good boss is an opportunity for any worker to really cherish. Do not seek to waste such great opportunities for your professional development by taking evil advantage of your bosses’ good intentions.