Sometimes your boss will quite clearly be a Loyalist of the Superior, charged with finding out what is actually going on. This is particularly likely if the Superior is a Thatcher or Mao. It is also possible with Saddams, in which case you are safe enough if the Agent-on-Earth is your direct boss, but be very careful otherwise not go give any information away.
Their mission on earth is not to achieve anything, but to try and find out what is actually going on: always a serious problem for Superiors (because no one ever wants to tell them anything bad). In the presence of the Superior, the Agent-on-Earth will often be the minute-taker of the meeting, or the guy who prepared the agenda, or worst-of-all, the guy passing notes and periodically taking the lead in questioning. Look out for situations where this has clearly been set up in advance.
Showing posts with label agent-on-earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agent-on-earth. Show all posts
How your Boss talks to his/her Superior: #5 - The Press-Officer
Expected at all times to express the Superior’s opinion. With Superior’s who are weak on the party-line, or just weak, particularly with Reagans and Krushchevs, the Superior will usually ensure that questions in this area (or most areas) are thrown over to the Press-Officer. Phrases such as “where do we stand on that one, Jack?” and “do you have the latest on this?” give the game away. Be careful not to confuse the Press-Officer, who is just a voice, with the following types (Minister, Lieutenant, Agent on Earth) who have real power
Understand the relationship between your Boss and his/her Superior
Superiors (see previous posts) are often quite different when acting as immediate bosses instead of visiting nobility. Remember that your own boss...
- ...will not see them as a remote figure in the way that most others do
- ...is concerned about them as a boss in the same way that you are concerned about the actions of your own boss
- ...has evolved a strategy for dealing with them, which may well involve quite different behaviour from the behaviour displayed to you in “boss-mode”
The last is the key point, and so it is worth a brief discussion of survival styles available to a boss when working for each kind of Superior. A little observation when the opportunity presents itself (i.e. while you are being silent in the Superior’s presence) should quickly reveal your boss’s choice. We begin by classifying these boss-survival styles, and then consider which of them work which each kind of Superior. They are:
The next posts will look briefly at each in turn.
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