george

There was a great post on Bnet regarding the Top 8 Dumb Complaints about Managers and I couldn’t resist posting some of my thoughts against. The list goes below along with my commentary:

Complaint #1: “My boss doesn’t want to get into the nitty gritty details of my work.”
Why It’s Dumb: Why should she have the time to worry about your job at more than a top-line level? It’s your job to worry about the details, not hers.

My 2 Cents: Did you get hired because you were thought to be able to do a specific type of job? Sure your boss should know what you do and how you do it, but when you get far into the weeds like we all would expect you to have to in order to get your job done, why does your boss need to get down there with you? They need to stay at the 20-40 thousand foot view, not the runway. If they start to get into the weeds, then they loose their ability to see the big picture and now are just one of the worker bee’s.

Complaint #2: “My boss delegates too much work to his staff.”
Why It’s Dumb: It’s his call, not yours, whether his staff can do a task better or more efficiently than he can. Where do you come off deciding what he should be doing or not doing?

My 2 Cents:This is one where I can see where the complaint is. Honestly this is only valid when your boss delegates his work to his staff, i.e. your writing up proposals or carrying out reports etc, stuff that is outside your job description and clearly into the realm of managerial. I can say though this is happening a lot more often. I look at my wife’s situation and clearly there are people in that organization who are over others who delegate their work responsibilities to their subordinates. That is clearly wrong. But what this complain is getting at really is the idea that a boss shouldn’t put their staff under pressure by giving them work to do. It’s your job to communicate with your boss when you are past a critical point, but let’s face it, we do our best when we are pushed to the limits. It’s up to you and your boss to find that middle ground so that he’s getting the most out of you and doing what’s right for the business, while at the same point not putting you into the nut house.

Complaint #3: “My boss relies on her staff for fresh ideas.”
Why It’s Dumb: Of course she does; that’s what staffers are for. Would you rather have a boss who thinks she knows everything and won’t listen to anybody else?

My 2 Cents: Be thankful that your boss cares what your staff thinks! Honestly this is kind of a no brainer, your boss relies on you and others that work for them to provide ideas that can be cultivated into workable things. Now I am a big proponent of giving credit where credit is due, but initially yes, your boss is going to look good. But that’s what all bosses want, is to look good by having a team to back them up. I go back to the saying “Behind every great man there is an even better woman” and this holds true to a working environment as well. You aren’t or shouldn’t be getting ignored and legitimate fairness is called for (unless your in a highly political job where this isn’t the case in which I say either shut up or get out) but making your boss look good opens a lot of doors to you.

Complaint #4: “My boss makes lots of trite ‘motherhood’ statements.”
Why It’s Dumb: Are you such a paragon of originality that your delicate shell-like ears are offended when somebody trots out a bromide? What’s the big deal?

My 2 Cents: Having never been a parent, I can’t comment on this one. But we all use our past experiences to help us make better decisions–this is what makes us human. So unless you were hatched fully grown and will a full compliment of original thoughts, you too have and make use of your experiences to justify or drive your decision making process. Motherhood or parenthood is just an example, but other examples would be to use your previous experience on a team or coaching or participating in a type of event or sports. Just so as long as it’s relevant and the dots can be connected, just accept it and move on.

Complaint #5: “My boss uses too much jargon and biz-blab.”
Why It’s Dumb: So what?  Most people in business talk that way.  It’s just mental noise, like a verbal tic.  At worst it’s annoying; at best, amusing.

My 2 Cents: In today’s environment where people openly use LOL or AFK or any other number of bizzare and odd short hand behavior, is it any surprise that your boss talks about synergy and business process improvement? Isn’t it their job to maximize their departments ROI and to keep their P&L in check? Of course it is! As a worker, use this time to learn and grow and understand the business. Find out what the jargon is and use it. You’ll sound smarter yes, but ultimately you will be better versed in growing within the business (or elsewhere).

Complaint #6: My boss steals ideas and claims them for his own.
Why It’s Dumb: Hey, he assembled a staff with good ideas, so that makes those ideas his to use. If you’re smart, you’ll WANT the boss to “own” your ideas.

My 2 Cents: See above Complaint 3. Honestly get over yourself. Yes we all want credit, but your professional growth should be something that is actively talked about between you and your boss on a daily basis! There should be no misgivings about their willingness and eagerness to see you advance. If you feel that you have to shelter these ideas because of some chance period where you’ll be called forth and having this gem of an idea will be the deal of a lifetime, good luck to you. The better and more reliable path is to be a team player, play the game, get the wins, and use that to your favor. Understand this, sooner or later your boss will realize how valuable you are, and that is a MUCH stronger thing to bet with than just some random ideas that may or may not be brilliant.

Complaint #7: My boss demands work assignments but doesn’t review them.
Why It’s Dumb: Maybe she trusts you to get the details right. Or were you maybe expecting her to be your fact-checker?

My 2 Cents: Looking back at High School, I remind myself that I was the guy that would challenge the busy work. Why is this required there is no academic content or substance or relevance. But work it’s a different ball game. You are being paid to work. It doesn’t matter if your boss reviews your work or not. If they ask for something and it’s reasonable just do it! The fact that they don’t review the work that they’ve asked for demonstrates a level of trust to your ability and you should appreciate it. Don’t be that eager-beaver who needs to have that instant gratification to getting your assignment turned in. Life stopped giving you grades on your papers when you graduated–welcome to real life.

Complaint #8: My boss is overpaid, in my opinion.
Why It’s Dumb:  Who put you on the executive compensation committee? While it’s true that some bosses make obscene salaries, your boss’s salary is none of your business.

My 2 Cents: If your boss is overpaid or not, that’s really none of your concern. You only concern here is whether or not you feel that you are fairly being compensated. Not whether you are getting paid what you think you should, but are you getting paid fairly based on the value you bring to the business and where the business is, and how others in the same role and responsibility within the marketplace are being compensated. Your boss gets paid based on those same criteria. So if you think your boss is getting overpaid, then I would assert you probably think your getting underpaid in comparison. If that’s the case, ask yourself what you do on a daily basis to go above and beyond to show that you bring more value to the business than someone who just does their 8-5 and calls it quits? Clearly there is some leveling that needs to be done on your own expectations and honestly you probably aren’t doing enough to differentiate yourself from others within your organization.