Comments on: When do you tell your boss?

By: Mike Jackson - Austin, Texas

Mike Jackson - Austin, Texas — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:24:55 +0000

Bing – if you were my boss I’m sure things would be very different. I adjust to the environment. I have had the same boss for a long time and she made it clear that if I am comfortable making the decision, I have complete authority to act. While this is an honor for me, there is a downside. She might not have picked up on the fact that I invented e-mail.

By: Mike, Spokane, WA

Mike, Spokane, WA — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:28:27 +0000

Bing, to be fair to Austin Mike (and I think basic human decency requires that anyone dealing with a ‘Mike’….the noblest of names, be unfailingly equitable….though I admit a certain bias); I don’t think he was advocating keeping the boss totally out of the loop. By your own definition…a ’swift rap on the noggin’ from the boss, I believe he would have included withholding said information as a violation of the precepts mentioned. Perhaps you were experiencing a cranky low sugar afternoon?. I hope you’ve not neglected the body’s basic minimum daily martini requirement. Alcohol deprivation can wreak havoc upon our sense of humanity.

Even this Mike, in his more juvenile life-stages, enjoyed giving a bad boss bad (but quite accurate) news, particularly when the bad boss was ill equipped to handle the information.

By: Mike, Spokane, WA

Mike, Spokane, WA — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:43:33 +0000

Bing, I suspect you’re a good boss, but don’t like to be blind-sided by information (good or bad) that your subordinates should let you know about? Nothing like the deer in the headlights look that no manager can suppress when a peer brings up something everybody (including your trusted team) but you knows about. I hope you don’t give a damn about which empanadas will be served, but maybe that stuff makes or breaks careers in NYC. Your obvious concern about a certain aged spaniel indicates otherwise.

By: Bing

Bing — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:10:25 +0000

Austin Mike, you have just articulated the upward management strategy that would get you a swift rap on the noggin if you worked for me.

By: A SAP, Lawrence MA

A SAP, Lawrence MA — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:44:03 +0000

Mike, Spokane, WA – NICE! That is called being responsible… not many managers know what it means to feel responsible for their grunts…back in the day they did but not anymore, disposable is probably the clearest way I could state the REAL connotation of the thought being written here. When in Rome…

By: Mike Jackson - Austin, Texas

Mike Jackson - Austin, Texas — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:01:29 +0000

I thought the general rule of thumb was to tell your boss anything/everything that might get you in trouble had you not informed them. Everything else is discretionary.

By: Another Jim, Worcester, MA

Another Jim, Worcester, MA — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:03:15 +0000

Interesting choices. In each you completely left off “I’m a marrionette dancing on a string. I don’t have to tell him anything because he doesn’t let go of the ropes for an instant.” I’m not sure what the score is. I only know how many aspirin it rates.

By: Jack Hammond Canada

Jack Hammond Canada — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:29:46 +0000

Anybody who scored anything on that quizz needs immediate attention to correct their heads,,, real people don’t give a dam about canapes, confused vacation schedules and the rest of it…..okay the divorce thing might be juicey over coffee,,,,but lets face it….A Boss who needs information about company take overs from a subordinate is out of the loop and shouldn’t be boss in the first place….best let the dummy wander around picking his nose until you replace him….

Want to know what happening in the corporate world ask the gal who makes the coffee…..they know everything and could probably run the whole shee bang better than the so called brains of the outfit…Want a good secretary pick a chubby one they work the hardest, are the smartest and are in tune with the world not their nails and hairdo…also they have the best sense of hummor….

By: Mike, Spokane, WA

Mike, Spokane, WA — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:10:34 +0000

As teenager in the Marine Corps I learned a solid organizational truth; you can’t be a good leader without being a good follower. And by ‘good follower’ I don’t mean a brown-noser…I mean somebody who tries to get the job done, cares about the organization (which is really only rational if the organization gives a damn about you…something in short supply in today’s world), and feels a sense of responsibility to subordinates as well those above.

In the many decades since, I have not been impressed with what passes for leadership in the business world. Most managers are focused ‘up’, and not particularly concerned about anything but their own careers and survival. They desire the rewards without accountabiliy…nothing is ever their fault.

They ignore timely warnings and valuable information from those lower in the organization, often in the hope that by the time trouble comes home to roost they’ll be long gone (mostly because they have mastered the art of transmitting only good news to the toadies above…who are also structuring their work life on the same sh*tty principles). On occasion I’ve had the opportunity (and sweet satisfaction)to watch such managerial turds swing in the wind, reaping what they’ve sowed.

Your subordinates may not be powerful, but they are not powerless. A foolish manager confuses authority with knowledge. Disrespect and abuse does get repaid. A manager is much more dependent upon their good graces than one might expect.

Of course, in the business world such a managerial attitude is not really dangerous..(maybe Buffy won’t get to go to a really good school)…but in the Marine Corps a young officer who treats enlisted marines with disrespect (all of which he outranks from the top of the payscale to the bottom) may well find himself not receiving the kind of information that will keep him alive. His disdain for knowledge and reliance on nominal authority endangers everyone. Grunts need somebody who can help them stay alive.

By: Robbie P, Endicott NY

Robbie P, Endicott NY — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:41:31 +0000

Sometimes the question comes down to…
“Who’s Driving Your Plane?”

By: Robbie P, Endicott NY

Robbie P, Endicott NY — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:12:22 +0000

Very nice, Bing…I always enjoy your BizZen advice and tutorials…

I laughed out loud on option 5b (FOR A LONG TIME) so much that the cranky lady across the hall had to stick her head in my office and flash me a dirty look, as if to say “they should send you down to medical for a wizz-quiz…you gotta be smokin’ something”

Thanks for the advice.

By: Paul, Miami, Fl.

Paul, Miami, Fl. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:27:05 +0000

I’m with Winston Salem Jim on this one with a couple of caveats.

Much easier to know than do and I’m only approaching retirement.

I still don’t know which is more difficult, being a good boss or a good subordinate?

By: A SAP, Lawrence MA

A SAP, Lawrence MA — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:42:42 +0000

Scary – 3 out of 5 hit home at one point or another in my work life. More scary than that according to the Bing (no not Bing.com for you new comers) rating systems I have a serious future… Business is all about communication and Organizational Behavior based with in the culture, politics and last but not least covering your A#$. Smiles, positive reviews sprinkled with a small negative to keep you in line and all other methods of manipulation to attain objectives, and expectations are all link to one crazy boss’s desire to succeed. If you play it right you can too.

By: Jim, Winston-Salem, NC

Jim, Winston-Salem, NC — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:55:31 +0000

Honest Bing, I made a perfect 16 points (including that point for trying). It’s funny that we only get good at this sort of thing after 30 years of practice. Now I’m retired and don’t need it anymore.

Bummer.

By: Mahagwa, Los Angeles CA

Mahagwa, Los Angeles CA — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:53:42 +0000

Bing
I agree with you on this one..communication is essential. But even when u tell the higher ups and they don’t act on it, where should the finger point? There have been situations where I have informed VPs of pending MAJOR issues and they slept, and slept and slept; and all of a sudden they woke up and started screaming “The Sky is Falling”, to which I replied “No worries chicken little, everything is under control”

By: Jeff S, Madison, WI

Jeff S, Madison, WI — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:00:57 +0000

Thanks for telling me that.

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