Opinion
Ethics, Etiquette, And Ego
When dealing with bosses
In a recent article, James Bellerjeau asks what kind of person argues with their boss?* By ‘argue’, James means publicly disagreeing with.
If you are like me and you’ve worked in enough dysfunctional organizations with very poor management, you might equally ask:
What kind of person never publicly disagrees with their boss?
But let’s leave both questions aside and get under the skin of James’s argument.
The highest stakes James manages to identify in the unequal power dynamic of underling to boss is to protect the boss’s ego. Consequently, any and all potential scrutiny or criticism of the boss’s behavior or policies must be done in private with the boss.
Any other consideration pales in comparison, and in fact is not even mentioned or imagined in James’s argument.
This of course raises some very interesting questions.
If it’s a disagreement on policy or methodology, isn’t there merit in raising any concerns or differences in a meeting in front of colleagues so there can be a dialogue and debate about it?
