My job is to hold the umbrella so the shit from above doesn't hit you. Your job is to keep me from having to use it.

This quote comes from a boss named "gschaadt " who wrote a comment in response to my post (with the great picture) on A Shitty View of the Pecking Order.  The complete comment is

I always tell the people who work for me the same thing:

My job is to hold the umbrella so the shit from above doesn't hit you.

Your job is to keep me from having to use it.

I think this is  brilliant because there is so much wisdom on so many levels.  First, it is really funny, especially when paired with the picture in the post.  Second, there is deep wisdom there about the relationship between a good boss and good followers -- these are mutually supportive relationships, not one way. Even the best boss can't do everything.  This boss --"gschaadt "-- is more than willing to go to bat for his people.   But the implication for him or any other boss is, if people keep creating conditions where he or she constantly has to protect them, say, from superiors that they piss-off because they do shoddy work or break too many rules or anything else-- a point comes where the difficult employee ends-up undermining the boss's reputation, the reputation of his or her team, and ultimately hurting everyone involved. 

This especially struck me because, as I said in my last post, I am working on an HBR article on how good bosses serve as a human shield, protecting their people in all sorts of ways, but there comes a point where a follower has messed-up so much that smart bosses don't open the umbrella to protect that one troublesome person because, otherwise, he or she --and the rest of the team -- will all get in such deep shit that they will never be able to dig out.  At the same time, walking this line isn't easy because some of the most creative and productive people are also sometimes the most difficult, weird, or annoying. 

This is yet another example of why the best bosses realize they are always doing a balancing act.  It reminds me of Marc Hershon (co-author of I Hate People and also the guy who named the Blackberry and the Swiffer) and what he said after reading some early chapters of Good Boss, Bad Boss. Marc suggeste another name for the book could be "Top Dog on a Tightrope."

Comments

[Nike Shox TL3]

Likewise, a lot of creatives are going freelance because agencies don't want to pay account handlers / planners / project managers. Speaking to the person who does the work is appealing, hence the increasing number of tiny, new creative shops.

[Bob Sutton]

JACH,

You make an excellent point and I agree with you, as the better the workplace, the less bosses need to protect their people. But I would add that all too often, bosses work in imperfect places and they need to open that umbrella at times, as not doing it is worse.

But I agree that the worse senior management is, the more the person holding the umbrella is an impossible situation.

[JACH]

Hi Bob,

I don't agree with you on this one. At least partially.

I worked in a place where the CEO was a bully, and our boss "shielded" us (at least partially) from him. But this also created a dysfunctional relationship, and made me uncomfortable (I remember me saying "but I don't want to need someone to rescue me in the first place").

I understood it better when I read about Karpman's drama triangle: if you need a rescuer from a villain, then that leaves you in the victim's place.

[DC Jobs]

This post reminds me how tough it can be for those managers that actually care about their employees. I guess that's why it's called "sticking your neck out", because their is risk involved, and I guess that is why so few do it.

[Randy Bosch]

Bob, Thanks for this excellent post. Truly, "there is deep wisdom there about the relationship between a good boss and good followers -- these are mutually supportive relationships, not one way".

Too much "leadership" writing compels belief that bosses are 100% responsible for any/everything, and give the rest of the team a free pass.

As my (then future) father-in-law said, "Marriage is a 100/100 proposition" - not 50/50 or 100/0, but 100/100.

Thanks for helping us look at it that way, even when "it hits the fan."

[Forrest Christian]

Gen. Leslie Groves was a great example of someone who knew how to manage "creative types" and get actual product out of them. He really kept the shit from military layers above from hitting the scientists and engineers making the bomb.

[michael cardus]

the greatest line that is so exact about the reciprocity of leaders and followers.
Brilliant!