In a rosy life of a corporate employee, there’s always a
villain. Unlike any villain you have seen in movies or comics, this villain generally
has a good taste in fashion and ‘your blood’. I will lose the bet if I ask you
to guess, because you already have him in your life – Your Boss.
Dressed in black as ‘the Satan’, he pokes you with the
trident of his evil taunts, make you feel nervous when you had it under
control, finds faults in you, your work and attitude; in short, tries to
belittle you at every step, just to prove who’s boss.
What is the best way to give it back to him? Turn into a HULK and call it a ‘Clobbering Time’!?
‘Hulk-Turning-Thought’ always reminds me of a question asked by my friend once–
‘Do you have spare clothes before you turn to Hulk?’. An intelligent argument indeed – Be prepared
before you wage a war. Carrying a pair of clothes, and hatred too, all the time
with me wasn’t a very good idea, so I dropped the idea of being Hulk. We still
have lot of Superheroes left that I can be!
Next in my list of inspiring superheroes, were Catwoman – Scratch my boss’s face and
run off, HellBoy – Punch my boss right
in face with my rock-fist, Human Torch
– set ablaze my boss’s hair so that he looks like Hades - his real self, posses
a hammer like Thor and strike right
on his head to set things right inside. But, all these are Image Destroying for
my boss and me both! I should be smart enough to end the war and the enemy in
one single attempt. And this requires for great deal of planning.
There’re two ways to win a war with your boss –befriend him,
win his trust and make sure it remains so, and the other way is to destroy him
completely. The first way is always amicable and actually the best way – the Mr.Fantastic way, however, there are
two factors to consider; you need to have real low Ego-Quotient and secondly,
not all bosses deserve your amity. For
the second way, unless you know you are more powerful than your boss, don’t
charge. But if you are at higher grounds then make just one perfect move to get
it all leveled with him, a swift move!
So, in any of the two ways of war you first need to know
your Boss. Till then lie low like Batman
or Spiderman would have. Find out
what are his strengths, weaknesses, is he worth sparing and offering your
friendship to him, what he thinks about you, who else can be your ally in this
endeavor. You also need to find your strengths and weaknesses. You need to be very detailed in this phase, more
the information the better you can plan. Once you have all this information
first decide on should you be offering your friendship or cry out loud for war.
A little ego-balm can work wonders to win your boss’s favor.
Be known that avoiding conflict is the best way to win it, and of course one
less foe to worry about.
Should you find yourself in a beyond repair situation, tie
your laces for bulldozing. Compare your strengths and weaknesses with your
boss. Find out where the boss can attack, device a plan for defense. Use your
strengths. Keep a dash of surprise element. Hit the boss where he least expects
it. Most importantly, plan all this stealthily. That’s the Batman way. Equip yourself with best possible defense and attack
plans. Make sure you are not overconfident like Iron Man, as not all possess the intelligence like a superhero. Be
vigilant like Hawk-eye, as your boss
can attack in return; always try to find what he’s up to – dig in like Agent Romanoff would; be flexible to
give it back to your boss for his advancements like Mr.Fantastic. In the end, all that matters is that you end it
swiftly before anyone can notice.
Bosses are unique creatures, not all have same traits, so
find the best way to deal with him using the superpowers of your superheroes; be
a Marvel!
Parting note to bosses who are reading this – The need to
read this article will never arise if you can be good to your team, blend in
and win confidence of your subordinates. Make office a happy place to work, or
else be ready for a Superhero!
