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Many companies craft these great vision and mission statements. They draft pages and pages of policy and code of conduct statements. They love talking about the culture that they want to create in their company and speak about their idealistic plans in gatherings. However, most of it is designed just for the manuals and press releases because reality is quite different.

Reality is a grimy picture of office politics, suspicious bosses and scheming employees. When a new hire enters the office, the old employees get insecure. The new hire starts working hard and starts getting accolades from his bosses. This creates insecurity amongst the other employees who have learnt how not to work hard and fool the boss. They start conniving ways to malign the new hire’s reputation in the eyes of the boss. Gossips and grapevines are activated. The attention of the old employees is not on their own work but on the new hire. Slowly and steadily they start feeding lies to the very boss who hired the new employee. Flattery, tales and all kinds of tools are used to ensure that the boss becomes so insecure that he makes life difficult for the new employee. The golden goose who was initially hired to deliver one golden egg everyday is now asked to deliver all the eggs at one go. Meanwhile, the old employees don’t have to work on their own targets because when the cat is away the mice will definately play. They simply watch the show. When the cat comes back, they know how to give flimsy excuses and confuse the already insecure cat even more. They ensure that every employee in the group remains a mediocre performer so that the bar of expectations is never raised. Naturally, amidst this gossip mongering and mediocrity, life becomes so difficult for the new employee that he has no choice but to leave.

Doesn’t this remind you of how Kattapa killed Bahubali in the epic movie on the behest of Shivgami who was fed lies by her own son and made to believe that Bahubali is not a good son? Shivgami believes the lies despite the fact that she knew Bahubali from the day he was born. These insecure bosses and their side kicks stifle the new hires in a similar fashion.

Do world class companies behave the same way? Do they support their new hires or malign them within a few months after their joining? Do they focus on numbers and performance enhancements or petty gossip? Every employee faces pressure but should the pressure of an insecure boss and his sidekicks be added as a bonus?

Such bosses can never cultivate a culture of excellence in their companies because for them nothing is more important than their ego. They like people who sing empty praises because they feel they are Gods on earth.

If you happen to work with a boss who believes in gossip, rumours and naysayers, it is important to exit before you are blamed or spied upon. No matter what you do, nothing will make a difference because these people are not long running horses. They are instead like Don Quixote who like to chase windmills and pretend that they have slayed mighty demons! Hogwash really!

Have you ever faced such a situation? Do share your story comments section!

I wish we get more of bosses who….

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