Nisha came over home with a face full of
gloom and sadness. Such a sad face that I was forced to ask her if everything
was okay at home and office and she replied in almost a mute tone, “all good at
home”. So that gave away the reason for her sadness; like in the case of a few
of us, it had to be something that happened in office. I thought it was good to
stop at that note, since all of us have some or the other office issues on a
hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis depending upon the generosity of our
bosses (I am presuming that we won’t be having issues only on a yearly basis
since we are good at flagging them off from time to time). I tried hard to make
her smile by bitching about a few common friends, doing the usual movie and
music talk, and then the who’s-breaking-up and who’s-getting-married talk and
then in a soft voice, she politely asked me to shut up. That was so not her,
and it immediately signalled that something went terribly wrong at her work
place. Maybe she lost her job or something. And I exactly knew how to start.
“So you got another stinker from your boss”? She didn't respond for a while,
which made me think it must have the God of stinkers she got so far. “No he’s
quitting”. Now, I didn't know how to respond to that! So I asked her if she
wanted to party tonight. And then she curly replied “ didn't you hear, I said
he’s quitting and now I am wondering what to do next”.
I didn’t expect this from her. And I didn’t
know how to react to that. She had sent me several whatsapp messages cursing
her boss, calling him by names that even go beyond the words in any dictionary,
and oh, he’s even been the butt of all bitch sessions. I was wondering if she
was seriously feeling sad for this boss quitting his job. Funny, how
people think. I didn't want to talk more about this and I went back to my
blackberry and whatsapp. After half-an-hour of mourning, she opened up and
said, “it’s true I disliked him a lot, but I won’t be what I am today without
him. He has shouted at me, used harsh words, but yet ensured that there was a lot
of learning on that job. I can’t work with anyone else in that office”. Wow! I
couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but the respect I had for Nisha just went
up by leaps and bounds.
It’s wonderful to feel that way about your boss despite
having to put up with nonstop battering. But then, how wise is it to quit your
job for a boss- I mean quit for a bad boss or quit because a good boss is
quitting. It’s a good boss and a good work atmosphere that keeps you going at
work, and of course I see quality work to be the bottom line that should
keep me glued to work in the first place. There are people who think otherwise, people
who think it is the love for work that makes them going, no matter who the boss
is, how people are and the other people related things. Sometimes I think that
is how work should be treated. I am not able to decide if the first approach
(which is my approach) is correct or the other one is wise. Let’s try and
reason it.
Let’s start with the perceived wiser approach first. We
decide our careers based on what we want to do. The people around us should not matter
in such things. Fair enough an argument. But what about someone for who is
sorted about their career and for someone who is working only for the love of
their careers, the last thing that can disturb their peace in a workplace is the
people around them. If the people around them are painful, I don’t see how it
is possible to just ignore them and keep working. At least not when it starts
eating into your work itself! That brings us to my approach. If you are in the company of good managers and peers at a work place, there is absolutely no
reason why you must not like your place. But if that goes sore to the point of
influencing your work and career, then it becomes prerogative to safeguard your
career.
This is exactly what Nisha is going through. She loves her job, and her
manager and she loves her job so much because of her manager. If he’s gone, she
thinks her current organisation and any other organisation is one and the same.
And if that be so, why not explore better options outside. She’s learnt the
nuances of her job so finely and maybe it’s time to flaunt them around.
So finally I told Nisha, that if she thinks
she should quit, I endorse that view. She was happy she found some solution,
hugged me and we drove back home. The happiness was just short-lived. It was
almost midnight and she messaged me on whatsapp saying she’s confused again!
Cause of confusion- her boyfriend. “Men may come, but work is work. If you like
what you are doing and your organisation is a good place to work in, it doesn’t
matter who the manager is”.
It seemed more than logical to accept this
view. Nisha was right and so is her boyfriend. But there’s one major difference
between the two of them. Money means a lot to Nisha’s boyfriend. But for Nisha,
she works only to satisfy her personal ego that takes the shape of a career. She works because she wants to work and not because she has to work. And so do I. Which is why, I think if I were her, I would do exactly the same thing as she has resorted to.
To sum it up, there no right or wrong in any approach. It’s just the
perception (a word which another friend of mine uses without any restraint, and
he loves it!). Or, it’s just the woman perception and the male perception of
approaching a workplace and its people. Let’s rest the case.
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