Recently, while facilitating a programme on Collaboration
for a MNC, a participant asked me how to handle an aggressive and exploitative
boss. This is a question that often comes up in my other sessions also.
There is a stereotype for everything in this world and usually
a Boss equates the Hari Sadu of the brilliant naukri.com ad. Egoistic,
unappreciative, manipulative, in short the monster under your bed your mother
had warned you about.
One participant shared how inspite of having worked with the
same boss for four years his boss still called him every half hour to find out
where he was, which client he had met and what he was doing. He mentioned how
he gave this hell to all his team members.
Sounds like a micro managing tyrant who has nothing better
to do right? Wrong.
Let us put ourselves in the bosses shoes, not out of empathy
but out of sheer curiosity as to why would somebody be driven to behave like
this?
As a psychologist the one question that I always ask is why
do people do what they do? The answer is surprisingly simple. People do what
they do, because they have a need to do it.
What need drives the behaviour of this Hari Sadu?
What does he get when he gets all the information as soon as
it happens all the time?
How does this make him feel?
In control, on top of the game, in the loop.
As unfair as it may sound, we are responsible for
understanding what makes our boss tick… Once we know this we can manage him
better.
This Hari Sadu has a high need for control and is highly
insecure if he feels he remains out of loop even for small things. Obviously
all he remembers from all the programmes on Coaching and the GROW model is the
Rogan Josh at the Five star resort where the programme was conducted.
Now that we have this very crucial piece of information
regarding our boss how do we fulfil his overpowering need for control? We call
him back every half hour and give him every little detail. I can bet that the
frequency of his calls will reduce to a great extent, very soon.
Why? Simply because his basic need for control has been met…
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