We know how people become bosses, but did you ever consider that not everyone wants to be a boss? Now there's a shocking revelation. As inconceivable as it may sound, not everyone wants to be on the fast-track and enjoy all the accouterments accompanying power. A surprising number of people are content to live secure quiet lives in the shadows.
Let us talk about two people who turned down military commissions. One man had a brilliant military career ahead of him. Before technological whiz kids were pulling down mega salaries, he was tinkering with communication technology. The military knew it. The military brass was set to train him to be a communication analyst and foot his college education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When he completed his education, he'd be guaranteed the rank of captain.
He shocked everyone, especially his family, when he turned his back on the whole arrangement. Envisioning a life of responsibility, commitment, and worry, he decided to be a free agent with no long-term ties to a career.
Similarly, on the job front, there are countless examples of talented people who have turned down supervisory positions for all kinds of reasons. Fear often heads the list. Thinking they're incapable of shouldering formidable doses of responsibility, they sidestep potential failure by avoiding it. Others are just lazy and don't want to be burdened with responsibility, long hours, employee headaches, and bosses breathing down their necks. Millions of workers just want to crawl into a cubicle so they can do their jobs, be out the door by 5:10 p.m., and get home to have dinner with their families. They have no aspirations of setting the world on fire. They simply want to be left alone and lead a quiet life.
Seduced by Life's Carrots
Yet, just as many workers who had no grand aspirations of being bosses simply got caught up in life's drama and found they had no other option but to grab the carrot when it was offered. Many people reach for supervisory jobs for economic reasons. They have mortgages, bills, tuition, and mouths to feed. Some are saddled with family problems, like taking care of a sick parent or spouse.
Jeanne, a welfare supervisor, is an excellent example. When her husband had an accident and had to accept disability checks until he recuperated, Jeanne was forced to be the family breadwinner. She took the supervisor s exam, passed it with flying colors, and was promoted to the job 3 months later. If her injured husband hadn't been housebound, she would have been content to continue working as an investigator. She loved fieldwork, especially talking with clients face to face, much more than being tied to her desk okaying budgets and keeping tabs on investigators.
Others become bosses because a loved one, often a spouse, pressured them to do so. Their spouses were far more power hungry than they were. For some, money, power, and perks are heady inducements for climbing the corporate ladder. This is still a fact of life in many towns where entire communities sprouted around a company. Flint, Michigan, home of a once enormous General Motors plant, is a classic example. A decade ago, if you lived in Flint, it was almost certain you worked for GM. The bigger your job, the more status and clout you had within the town. While many ambitious workers were pressured by spouses or family members to conquer supervisory jobs, many others were content taking home a decent hourly wage by working on the assembly line 8 hours a day.
But life has a way of forcing us to make decisions and take on responsibilities we'd never consider under ordinary circumstances. Don't for a minute think all bosses love or even want their jobs. Like many of us, they're victims of circumstance. That's pause for thought.
It Is a Jungle Out There
One last thought about being a boss. It's tough being a boss in any age, but it's particularly hard in the midst of the toughest job market ever. A commonly held myth is that most bosses have job security. That couldn't be further from the truth. Unless they're high up and protected by stock options, golden parachutes, and perks, they're often more vulnerable than the average worker. A boss's good or bad work directly affects the bottom line. If his or her staff fails to produce or if sales take a nosedive, the boss is held accountable.
Most bosses have the power to hire and fire, yet their heads are on the chopping block every time they make a bad decision. In a competitive environment like ours, the average boss must cope with more pressure than his or her predecessors.
Sure, there are jobs out there, but the good ones are hard to come by. And keeping them is harder still. It's difficult for any worker to slip into a cubicle and become invisible, but it's impossible for most bosses. Let us remember this.
