Is the boss always right?
Is the boss always right?
One of the common things we all hear as employees is, there are two rules of working under a boss – Rule 1.) the boss is always right, Rule 2.) If the boss is not right, refer to rule no. 1.).
As soon as we hear the word “boss”, the most common first image that strikes our mind is that of someone who is in position of power coming from his designation. Many of us have experienced their bosses to be absolutely authoritative with a last say in everything while there are others who have found their bosses to be giving them an opportunity to participate in important decisions.
For - The title “boss” comes with an experience:
-The title boss does show off some authority but only comes with an experience and practical understanding of business. So, most of the decisions a boss would make, he would make on the basis of practical understanding of the situation.
-Organisations usually have a reporting system which means that a boss would make the decisions based on facts and figures. These will be well thought of actions and would be right in most cases.
-The bosses these days come equipped either with a management degree and/or have attended a lot of training programmes and work shops on team management and soft skills. This makes them understand that they can not work without team and have to give it due importance and credit. This again ensures that the boss makes a well thought of decision based on the skills and opinion of the team. This further increases his probability of being right.
Against - The boss is a human being too:
-The employees working in the frontline know the practical aspects of business which the boss might not know but they always make a decision for the lower level employees which many times are taken with insufficient information.
-It is a human tendency to focus on certain aspects while ignoring others and the boss is no exception.
-We can not expect the boss to know everything, many a times an employee may have an easy solution to problem than a boss. Many bosses are not able to accept this fact and get into a competition with their own sub-ordinates. Many a times, it turns out to be an ego issue for the boss.
-If the boss comes from different domain, he may not be technically as competitive as some of the senior employees though he may be good at managing the team and running the whole show. In such a case the boss may not always be right and must ponder over the thoughts of his team.
-The boss may at times get into the favouritism mode which might dilute the objectivity of his decisions.
The boss is a human being too and can have his own share of right or wrong decisions. We as employees should not be judging him just because he is a boss. At the same time, to run the organization effectively the boss must try to take his team into confidence and try to grow himself into the role of a leader while getting out of the shadow of the word “boss” which is a bit too strong.
Discussion
- RE: Is the boss always right? -navya (11/25/15)
- This is really an interesting question, but according to my experience yes boss is always right and if we follow this mantra then only we can succeed in our job otherwise the work environment becomes hell. but yes if things become worst then we have to take a disciplinary action, not always against the boss but for our benefit. Else make your skills strong or leave the job and find the better one. Actually we cannot work on that environment, so its better to change.
same is the situation i am facing. - RE: Is the boss always right? -jeremiah (01/27/15)
- I agree with the advice. Boss not always right but ought to be right. These were important opinions which were put forward by our great learned grandfathers. We respect them, but we should use them as a yardstick to come up with more and current oriented modified phrases which suite our modern environment. Just like we may rely on the past to predict the future, we can also use the past to transform the future.
- RE: Is the boss always right? -Deepa Kaushik (05/10/14)
- Boss is again a human being and has all the attributes that the human beings possess. A boss can be right or wrong, but his experience and service matters. The boss does have certain qualities and qualifications, and these talents are being recognized to grant him the superior post. This definitely adds up to the experience and the increased probability of his decisions to be correct.
There is a misconception that boss is always right, we should rather accept this phrase is more often used sarcastically. Instead of saying boss is always right, we can say boss needs to be always right. Not just because of his superior position having decision making authority, but also to combat his superior ego, which in case hurt, often affects his subordinates in a drastic manner.
A boss often has a more superior ego which has to be smartly met. But that doesn’t necessarily mean accepting every fallacy done by him. But his faults need to be indicated in a smart way so as not to hit his ego but informing of the mistakes to be rectified. The duty of the subordinate is to work as a unit with his tem thereby keeping up the prestige of his boss. At the same time the boss in his place, should be a conversant person hearing to the views and ideas of his subordinates before passing any decision.
Precisely speaking, it is human tendency to make mistakes. That need to be highlighted in a way that doesn’t hurt others.
