Bhag Lo (Participate) or Bhag Lo (Run Away).

May 18

I had two assignments under a very difficult boss, known as a toxic boss on the grapevine. My colleagues, who had very stressful and frustrating experiences with him, used to sympathise with me. No doubt, I too had a tough life in the first assignment under him, but the second assignment was not so.

But I think such a boss, or rather person has some sort of manufacturing defect. He usually has a feudalistic tendency that even a leaf shouldn't move without his consent. Such a controlling behaviour displays his lack of trust in subordinates and peers, and lack of confidence in himself. He thinks nobody is indispensable, except him.

An employee in an organisation should know how to manage his or her bosses, peers and subordinates to be successful in the career. But a toxic boss is very tricky to deal with. We often come across people who don't quit a job, but quit a boss.

The question is how to deal with such a boss. An employee has always two choices, Bhag Lo or Bhag Lo. In Hindi, the words भाग लो (bhag lo) has two meanings- Participate and Run Away.
So one option is to counter the boss, if he is wrong in his behaviour, action or direction, and face the music including disciplinary action or even quitting the job.

This happens with those employees, who think themselves as ideal and have lofty opinion of their knowledge and skills. They will resist, resent and defy the power play by their boss. You learn nothing, if you think you are right all the time. This results in a vicious and dysfunctional relationship.

But there are employees, who are 'yes men', and tend to blindly follow the boss, without uttering a single word, whether his dictates are right or wrong. They consider their boss the most knowledgeable person on the earth and always keep him in high esteem, but they actually suffer from what is called Dependence Syndrome and Abilene Paradox. This is a dangerous situation for any organisation.

Both an aversion and over-reliance on the boss is counter productive for both organisation and employees. The ideal thing for an employee is to speak his or her mind politely, but emphatically. Sharing critical information and constructive suggestion acts as value addition that will help boss in decision making.

Keeping the boss updated about the work, flagging an issue of importance and seeking periodical feedback from him will help establish a workable relationship and an environment of trust and camaraderie.

An employee should never forget that a boss is not the ultimate authority. In the hierarchy, he has also his boss, and to follow his dictates. He can also be under a lot of stress and strain. So he also needs some amount of compassion. I have realised it myself, both as a subordinate and as a boss.