Let’s talk about: Horrible Bosses…

Abdullahi Fawale
Jul 24, 2017 · 3 min read

No, not the Jennifer Aniston movie.

But then, Kevin Spacey never gets it wrong with the face. LOL. Photo credit: Google

Today, I want to talk about how some bosses revel in the idea of people working for them & not with them.

First off, you have to realise that having a workforce is not that much of a special achievement. Granted, you put in the hard work to grow your business or venture and now that your empire is growing, you’d need to bring more people on to help you handle stuff.

It’s the way it is; the way it’s meant to be. You employ the services of other people because you can’t do it alone. It’s the order of nature.

Do you want to die? No, forrealz, if you were that brilliant, do it all alone na. Be the Chairperson, the CEO, the COO, the CFO… (insert every other abbreviation in the world of business) do it all ALONE and let’s see just how great you’d fare.

It’s really funny how people think of themselves as superheroes because they have somehow managed to grow a business and employed a number of people.

So. Much. Drama though! Photo credit: Google

We know you are amazing. We know you did strive to make something of yourself. We know it wasn’t easy. What we don’t understand is why you THINK you’re doing people a huge favour because you employ them, when in actual reality, the only people keeping your business intact, are those ones who do the run-arounds, the bulky paper work, the endless meetings; those who get insulted and dragged on your behalf. Those who miss the birth of their baby, because they simply can’t afford to get to work late for the third time in a month.

‘Then there are those kind of bosses who think your life belongs to them. They don’t see anything wrong in calling you to settle some random work stuff at odd hours. You can’t give excuses. You can’t say you have plans to hang out with old friends on Saturday night, because, who cares? They own you. At least, they THINK they do.’

This is why I love the tech industry. You hardly notice a difference between the oga at the top & the corper or the 2nd year intern. You don’t know in whose head lies the next big idea. There’s a free market place of ideas and different opinions are always welcome. That’s prolly why the tech industry seems to be the only sector recording massive growth & advancement in the country (and across the world today).

People need to let go of the master-slave mentality. Let people work WITH you. Interact with your staff more. Get to know individual strengths & weaknesses. Build on their strengths, get to know them better. Ask after their children and how they’re doing at school, genuinely. Keep the doors open. Welcome new ideas and propositions. That’s a good way to build a winning team that would go on to break into new markets & record huge successes.

It becomes a win-win situation for all.

We all can’t be entrepreneurs. We all can’t be bosses. It just wouldn’t work.

Take pride in having people work with you towards greatness. Be thankful for the staff you have & their dedication to work. Appreciate them more. Afterall, you can’t do it alone.

A massive s/o to all legit bosses in town dem!! Endless blessings.

***Meanwhile, Abdullahi was hungry when he wrote this. Really hungry.

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