103I will talk to the Boss / Boss Has Told Me…
“Boss has told me” or “I have spoken to the boss” are some of those phrases that are excessively used in the corporate world.
Who uses it: This is a group of people with below average IQ level. Predominantly, these people are immature, uninformed, less-knowledgeable, incompetent, and usually non-performers. They are big bullies. In a common language these people are also referred as sycophants.
Why they use it: They are attention seekers. Nothing is easier to get the attention of your colleagues than to demonstrate your pseudo closeness with your boss. They try to hide their incompetence and non-performance by demonstrating unwanted and overtly care towards their reporting managers and diverting his or her focus from the core performance issues. In an attempt to demonstrate their closeness to the key-person(s) in the organization, they try to create various power-centers in the organization by exuding the message, “come to me, I will get your work done”.
If we look into the behavioral psychology, these are the kind of people, when they were growing-up they used to bully their siblings at home by saying, “I will tell Mom” or “I will tell Father” and later in school they began to use the phrase, “I will tell the teacher”. Therefore, it is obvious that these people when they moved to workplace, they rephrased it to “I will tell the boss or boss has told me”.
Let’s discuss more about it with a few elaborations.
In an organizational setup, one gets an opportunity to see and interact with all kinds of people. Some are attention seekers and will do anything to be visible (sometimes even an irritating and ridiculous act); some are rebels (they always do what they are told not to do); some are hard working and some are hardly the working kind of people; some are calm and many are very vocal about everything that they see, hear and feel; some always share their problems with everyone that they meet in the office and the rest are the frontrunners in giving free advises; so on and so forth. And then there is this category of employees who do not miss any opportunity to flaunt their proximity with their bosses. Every time they start a discussion; it begins with one of the following:
“I will tell the boss”,
“Boss has told me”,
“I have spoken to the boss”
“I had discussion with the boss”
“Boss has asked me to get ______ from you”
In this write-up we will throw some light on “I have spoken to the boss” kind of people. I do not remember the exact date or time, however, I believe that I began to observe and notice this category of people in the workplace and their behavior in the second half of last decade.
First Incident: The first time I came across such scenario was during the time when Mr. Ashish Nanchahal was my reporting manager. Or I must say that I was reporting to multiple heads at work location and in corporate office. Mr. Ashish has had good rapport with many senior managers more than that of the Head of HR, primarily because of the fact that he was one of the long-serving HR professional in the organization. Every time we have any discussion on any subject, he always used to begin with, “I have discussed this with the HR Head” or “CEO Sir has asked me to get this done” or “Mr. VP Operations want you to do this”. Initially, I never countered or cross-checked and on many occasions, during our weekly meetings he reversed his stand and put the blame on the others. Later on I began to cross-check his every instruction with the concerned person or department head and I realized that on many occasions, there was a huge communication gap. His communication with that person would always be different from his communication with me. What the other person would like him to get it done and what he communicates to me would always be different. On observing his behavior more closely, I realized that he has a sense of insecurity. He was of the opinion that if he won’t do what he is doing and if he don’t behave the way he does, he might lose his image. Probably he wasn’t aware that in his absence, people crib about him, bad mouth him and most importantly use him as a tool to divide the team and the department for their own benefit. When your seniors know that you are not a performer but rather a sycophant they begin to treat you as one and you begin to lose your own ground. You begin to doubt your own capabilities and skills.
Link to the Article: http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com...s-told-me.html
Second Incident: When I met second such person, I was technically and logically prepared to face and counter such people. He was my colleague Mr. Ashish Kanungo. I believe it was the first time in his career, when he realized that probably, he is dealing with a difficult HR Department Head that he cannot con, intimidate, bully or use for his own advantage. As soon as he joined, he began to show his colors. On first occasion, someone from his department applied for leave and he directed that person to me. I said to that individual that as per the company and HR policies, he can take the leave; however, HR cannot approve his leave. His leave needs to be approved by the concerned department head, which is responsible for his deliverables and project deadlines. Later on, Ashish came to me to tell that he do not want to approve the leave of this person, however, he do not want to communicate it to the concerned person but rather want HR to communicate it to him. The reason that he gave is he does not want to spoil his relations with his team-members. He was planning to build his own team and inculcating team-spirit at the cost of HR. Now, because he knows that I am a difficult HR to deal with, so, every time that he would approach me, he begins the communication with, “I have already spoken to the CEO and CTO” or “CEO has asked me to inform you that”, etc. I told our CEO that this person is selling your name on the floor for his own advantage and that may affect the image of the management. Mr. CEO asked me to be careful in dealing with the requirements of Ashish.
Shared Responsibility (To be held accountable): As I grew in the company and in my career, I realized that the best way to handle such people is to make them accountable for everything that they say. In pre-economic reform era, companies have used memos to ensure proper flow of information and to enforce accountability. In an era when emails became a major mode of communication, it become a norm to not to accept any verbal or oral instructions or directions. If anyone comes and says that X, Y, Z has asked him or her to get something from you or to direct you to do some work for him or her, just ask that person to drop-in an email with copy to the concerned person. It has been observed that whenever you ask someone to send an email or give it in writing and make them answerable, many of them change their mind. Most often, people want to take a free bite and use the name of a senior and an influential person to get their work done. They want you to do the work for them and at the same time take the credit for the work done by you. Here, I like to share one more example. “Manager A” asked “Employee B” to do a certain work for him. “B” tried to do it for several days and when there was only ONE day left to submit the report to “A”, “B” asked “Employee C” to do it for her as she could not do it. Both “B” and “C” reports to “A”. “C” asked “B” to send an email to her with a copy to “A”. “B” refused to do so. It was apparent that “B” was trying to hide her incompetence and failure by passing on the responsibility to “C”.
Personality Analysis
It has been observed that those who use the name of their influential and fearsome seniors to get their work done are usually incompetent and indecisive people. They are non-performers and they have a sense of insecurity. They feel insecure about their job, and losing their reputation. They do not want to be held accountable and answerable for any of their decision or act; however, if the act gets a favorable response, they want to take credit for their initiatives, foresight and the success. Such people do not grow in their career and definitely cannot be an Entrepreneur or SBU Head or Member of Board. Boards need performers with a track record of outstanding performance, decision makers and risk takers to head important business units and profit centers.
Corporate Analysis
Companies that inculcate and encourage such culture and do nothing to curb it are the ones that crash-land before taking the flight. Such companies lack proper flow of information and the channel of communication become blurred.
This write-up is based on my personal corporate experiences, observations and research of last 10+ years. I believe that people should take responsibility for their work and be held accountable and answerable for everything that they take-up. Responsibility can be shared but the accountability lies with the concerned individual.
Kindly share your thoughts and opinion on this write-up.
Link to the Article: http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com...s-told-me.html
From the desk of Sanjeev Himachali
Email:
BLOGS: www.sanjeevhimachali.com; http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/ and http://diaryofsanjeev.blogspot.com/
Disclaimer: This write-up is based on true incidents. All Names, and characters, are either the product of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
From India, Mumbai
Hello Sanjeev,
Even I had experienced this incidence several times and always wanted to know the fact.
I also had the same opinion. Now I am relaxed that my findings are somewhat correct.
As I am working in a medium sized manufacturing unit I come across such situations often.
Thanks a lot for your post.
Regards,
Shalini
From India, Delhi
Even I had experienced this incidence several times and always wanted to know the fact.
I also had the same opinion. Now I am relaxed that my findings are somewhat correct.
As I am working in a medium sized manufacturing unit I come across such situations often.
Thanks a lot for your post.
Regards,
Shalini
From India, Delhi
This great thing that you have mentioned is a person named Ashish. Like this person, in many organizations, we can find individuals with this behavior easily. It is the fault of their mentality, less confidence resulting in feelings of insecurity, leading to the behavior as explained above.
Precautions should be taken while dealing with these kinds of people, and cross-checking is the best way to do so.
Thanks for the post.
From India, Mumbai
Precautions should be taken while dealing with these kinds of people, and cross-checking is the best way to do so.
Thanks for the post.
From India, Mumbai
Hi Sanjeev,
I do agree with what you said. Even I had the same kind of experiences before. I feel that the bosses should also monitor and counter-check (which is not happening in many cases) with their teammates who actually perform or execute the tasks. At the end of the year, when the time comes, these people remain unrecognized, and this leads to job dissatisfaction.
Regards,
Kiran
From India, Hyderabad
I do agree with what you said. Even I had the same kind of experiences before. I feel that the bosses should also monitor and counter-check (which is not happening in many cases) with their teammates who actually perform or execute the tasks. At the end of the year, when the time comes, these people remain unrecognized, and this leads to job dissatisfaction.
Regards,
Kiran
From India, Hyderabad
Accountability point is true for so many people.
I am working as an HR professional in a small firm where we give considerations to all. Before I joined, there were no strict office hours, no scrutiny, and no checking. One person in the office lives quite far away and has permission from our president to arrive without a late mark up to 10:30 am. However, he used to take advantage of this and would arrive well past 11:20 am. When I began marking him late consistently and warned him that repeated tardiness would result in salary deductions, he started complaining to me about his problems and the difficulties he would face in coming to the office. I advised him to send me an email about his situation and copy our president on it, so I could consider allowing him to arrive late. Instead of following through with this, he has now started coming on time.
Make people accountable for their actions and words. Once they are held accountable, they will likely start behaving in the right manner.
From India, Mumbai
I am working as an HR professional in a small firm where we give considerations to all. Before I joined, there were no strict office hours, no scrutiny, and no checking. One person in the office lives quite far away and has permission from our president to arrive without a late mark up to 10:30 am. However, he used to take advantage of this and would arrive well past 11:20 am. When I began marking him late consistently and warned him that repeated tardiness would result in salary deductions, he started complaining to me about his problems and the difficulties he would face in coming to the office. I advised him to send me an email about his situation and copy our president on it, so I could consider allowing him to arrive late. Instead of following through with this, he has now started coming on time.
Make people accountable for their actions and words. Once they are held accountable, they will likely start behaving in the right manner.
From India, Mumbai
Hi all,
I agree with what Mr. Sanjeev has pointed out, but I would also like to share a point I feel about this. For some situations, I have observed that employees are more likely to perform when they are told to do so by their boss. This tendency can arise when age or position aligns with ego.
I can provide an example from my early career. During a function where all employees were expected to participate in various programs, I, as a junior HR personnel, was tasked with coordination. As I tried to engage everyone and collect names for participation, I encountered resistance. Many were reluctant, stating "we can't." It dawned on me that this reluctance stemmed from my junior position relative to them, and they were unwilling to heed my instructions. However, determined to fulfill my assignment, I compiled a list of programs and suggested names of suitable employees, presenting it as if it came from their boss. Surprisingly, they all agreed without objection and performed well.
I perceived their resistance as an ego issue, particularly in listening to instructions from their junior. The dynamic changed when the authority of their boss was invoked; they were more inclined to comply without hesitation.
From India, Kochi
I agree with what Mr. Sanjeev has pointed out, but I would also like to share a point I feel about this. For some situations, I have observed that employees are more likely to perform when they are told to do so by their boss. This tendency can arise when age or position aligns with ego.
I can provide an example from my early career. During a function where all employees were expected to participate in various programs, I, as a junior HR personnel, was tasked with coordination. As I tried to engage everyone and collect names for participation, I encountered resistance. Many were reluctant, stating "we can't." It dawned on me that this reluctance stemmed from my junior position relative to them, and they were unwilling to heed my instructions. However, determined to fulfill my assignment, I compiled a list of programs and suggested names of suitable employees, presenting it as if it came from their boss. Surprisingly, they all agreed without objection and performed well.
I perceived their resistance as an ego issue, particularly in listening to instructions from their junior. The dynamic changed when the authority of their boss was invoked; they were more inclined to comply without hesitation.
From India, Kochi
Hi all,
I completely agree with Jeena as I also face this type of situation. I work in the HR department of a supplier company. Despite being from HR, there are individuals who only act when their boss's name is mentioned before assigning them a task. Is there a way to get work done by such people without having to reference the boss's name?
From India, Pune
I completely agree with Jeena as I also face this type of situation. I work in the HR department of a supplier company. Despite being from HR, there are individuals who only act when their boss's name is mentioned before assigning them a task. Is there a way to get work done by such people without having to reference the boss's name?
From India, Pune
Excellent write-up and observation. We, HR professionals, are custodians of organizational behavior. We deal with human capital towards organizational development with the business objective.
Human behavior is so dynamic and critical to handle.
From India, New Delhi
Human behavior is so dynamic and critical to handle.
From India, New Delhi
Dear all,
What Sanjeev has informed is 100% true, and most people use such phrases only to finish things too urgently or to inform the employees that I am a right hand to the boss. We can find such professionals everywhere in the world in the corporate world. What I have observed is that they will haunt the employees in such a way that those who fear taking risks to converse with the boss, and they will try to have authority over subordinates.
Thanks for your input, and it was too nice.
Best regards,
From India, Bangalore
What Sanjeev has informed is 100% true, and most people use such phrases only to finish things too urgently or to inform the employees that I am a right hand to the boss. We can find such professionals everywhere in the world in the corporate world. What I have observed is that they will haunt the employees in such a way that those who fear taking risks to converse with the boss, and they will try to have authority over subordinates.
Thanks for your input, and it was too nice.
Best regards,
From India, Bangalore
Firstly, I appreciate the experiences shared by Sanjeev. While we can relate to every experience shared by him, as most of us bump into such kinds of people at every workplace, I also appreciate Jeena and Samprada for bringing out another aspect of this kind of behavior. I wouldn't call people who use such tactics for valid reasons indecisive or insecure. Please understand there are always two sides to a coin. If I am not mistaken, even when we sometimes inform employees to send an email regarding any exceptions to be made with a copy marked to their seniors or boss, we too are subtly instilling the fear of the senior into their minds to have our way.
I feel every situation is unique as well as the individual. I completely agree that there are many who misuse the influence of the boss/senior to get their way, but there are some who do use it for the right reasons which will be good for the individual, team, and the organization.
From India, Pune
I feel every situation is unique as well as the individual. I completely agree that there are many who misuse the influence of the boss/senior to get their way, but there are some who do use it for the right reasons which will be good for the individual, team, and the organization.
From India, Pune
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