Stop making heroes out of people who undermine their boss, regardless of what you think of him

I had a boss once that I gradually lost respect for. (I hope said boss doesn’t read this and recognize himself, but it was many years ago I’m sure he’s done fine without me.)

There’s no point going into all the reasons. But I got to the point during three years of working for this person that I did not believe the organization he led could ever succeed because his inadequacies as a leader would not permit that to happen. (In fairness to him, once I became the CEO of my own organization, I proved to myself and everyone around me that I had plenty of my own flaws.)

Democrats are Democrats first.

Being an American is way down on their list.

They think that it is the Democrat Party that gives them money.

Loyalty is a two way street paved with shared experiences and normal conflict. If either party violates trust and loyalty it’s bad for everyone and bad for the organization. The boss gets no special consideration. He usually gets thrown out.

Many places I have worked demand “loyalty”, yet they show NONE to their employees.

That's pretty much been my experience also. Seldom have I had a supervisor or 'boss' who I really thought had my best interests in mind at all. And pro-business Freepers please spare me the 'it's their business and they can do whatever they want to' remarks. I know that, I'm not talking about what is allowable or permissible, but about what is right.

Maybe my distant Irish ancestors were galloglaich or something, but I don't really hold that I owe admiration to an employer. They employ me, yes, and in return I use my marketable skills to make them money. Business, nothing more or less.

You owe *loyalty* to your employer only as long as they treat you in likewise. I had a boss (who I've now come to believe had undiagnosed mental problems) who would tell people they were doing well to their face, and then crap all over their performance to literally anyone else. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to his behavior. He would do this to everyone, including people who performed exceptionally in their jobs. One time he turned down Christmas bonuses for his entire department (except himself, his secretary, and his middle manager (who he later fired) mind you), despite the fact that several people in the department had literally saved his professional reputation by going over and above for a continuous period of several months. I had no intention of staying at the company long term so none of it fazed me particularly, but I could clearly see that this guy deserved nothing approaching loyalty.

If you want loyalty from your employees, give loyalty to your employees. If you don't stand up for your people, why on earth would you expect them to stand up for you?

Well, who determines what is “right”? What exactly are we talking about? Bosses who berates employees as if they are a Marine drill sergeant? Bosses who punish employees over minor infractions as if they were the end of the world???

Maybe I’m missing something. I won’t be saying it’s their business and they can do whatever. But I am thinking that it should be clear, to both employer and employee, what the job description is, and how the job performance is measured.

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