To be or not to be (an effective asshole). That is the question.
Mr. Z a nice guy. He is a well-respected figure in his community. He is always generous with his smile. He treats his colleague like his friends and his subordinates like his anak buah. People like his personality: warm, funny, and friendly. He often goes out of his way to praise people even for simply doing their job. He tries not to scold his staff because it might affect their morale. The hardest he has ever been on his staff is that one time when he gave a modest warning to his assistant who screwed up pretty bad. After that, he couldn’t sleep for three nights because he felt bad saying that to his assistant. The next day, he awkwardly offered to buy his assistant lunch in a reconciliatory gesture.
Everyday, he goes home to his loving family at 5.30pm sharp. People always seek his advice regarding their personal life, because Mr. Z looks like a wise, well-aged man. He doesn’t mind his subordinates getting familiar with him, and would lend money to his subordinates, although they never pay him back. He doesn’t mind, though. Mr. Z is a nice guy.
However, his work is sloppy. And full of mistakes. And always a few days late. This is because his staff never submitted their work to him on time, because they know he won’t make a fuss. Submit a document to him a few days late and the worst thing he would say is “lain kali minta hantar awal ya”, in a futile attempt to act firm. Mr. Z just couldn’t be mean.
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Mr. S is an asshole. Everytime he passes by, people would whisper about how much of a jerk Mr. S is. He would shout at his colleagues any time he doesn’t get his way. He would make scenes during board meetings. He treats his subordinates like shit. His staff fear him, and would tremble if summoned to his office. If people screw up, he would give a tongue lashing vicious enough to reduce adult men to tears. If his demands are not met, he would forbid people from going home or going out for lunch until the job is done. If he requests something at 9.00am, you would put it on his desk at 8.30am, hoping to be spared of his explosive outburst. His meetings always start on time. His staff would rather fake a relative’s death than come to his meeting 5 minutes late and incur his wrath.
![[Picture of Gordon Gekko, the archetypal asshole boss]](http://blog.aidan.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gekko.jpg "gekko")
Gordon Gekko, the archetypal asshole boss
As a result of his high-handedness, his office maintains a high level of discipline and punctuality. He always gets his job done well: on time, spotless, tip-top, with all i’s dotted and all t’s crossed. Same goes to his staff. Anything less is an insult to Mr. S’s work ethic. He may be an asshole, but he’s an effective asshole.
Who would you prefer working in your organization, Mr. Z or Mr. S?
Note: I don’t want weasel answers like “it depends” or “it’s good to be balanced” or “depending on the context” or “we need a bit of both”. Choose Mr. Z or Mr. S and state your reason why.
Posted by Suhaimi.
Filed under Business & Management, Culture, Personal
Posted on Wed, 29 April 2009 at 12:49 pm
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Mr S…..because i simply like to follow people with good work ethique
29 Apr 09 at 8:07 pm #saya suka boss yang baik. kalau kerja kuat-kuat pun yang untung lebih boss tu sendiri, so lebih baik saya kerja under boss yang baik.
30 Apr 09 at 8:27 am #Mr S, only because weasel answers are not allowed ha ha.
Your article reminds me of the England national football team manager. When McLaren (mr nice guy) was in charge, they could not even qualify for Euro. Since Fabio Capello (alleged disciplinarian) took over, the team are now doing well in the World Cup Qualifiers.
At the end of the day, what matters are results, which Mr S is more likely to deliver. But in an organization/team where results don’t matter, then the Mr Z kind is more likely to be preferred. However, if results don’t matter, they don’t even deserve to exist in the first place anyways.
30 Apr 09 at 5:03 pm #…kalau kerja kuat-kuat pun yang untung lebih boss tu sendiri, so lebih baik saya kerja under boss yang baik…
Silent Hill, daripada kenyataan di atas, adakah anda bermaksud…
1)kalau anda bekerja kuat2, maka bos anda je yg selfish dapat untung banyak (pastu bos anda pakai BMW, ada rumah banglo, etc). Sedangkan anda still dengan gaji anda yg tak seberapa (kereta Kancil, beli pangsapuri lelong je, etc)? Betul ke apa yg saya faham ni?
2)…so lebih baik saya kerja under boss yang baik… adakah anda bermaksud, anda lebih suka bekerja dengan bos yg baik seperti Mr. Z supaya anda boleh submit kerja tak ikut deadline tapi still tak kene marah, tak cukup duit nak bayar sewa flat pun anda boleh hutang dengan bos anda? Betul ke apa yg saya faham ni?
Kalau betul la apa yg saya faham tentang kenyataan awak, maka memang patutla awak tak berjaya dapat PTD walau dah beberapa kali applied. Awak memang tak layak. Niat awak nak dapat PTD tu pun ntah betul atau tidak.
Again, kalau betul la apa yg saya faham ni,it shows that you have mentality and attitude problem.
Kalau awak bekerja keras, then biasanya company lebih untung and gaji awak pun boleh naik. Siap boleh ada bonus tahunan dan lain2 alaun lagi. Your superiors will like you. When that happens, there are high chances for you to climb the corporate ladder, be it in the same company or as you move along working in other companies as well.
Company kalau untung banyak, boleh la wujudkan lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan. Boleh la anda recommend kan saudara mara/kawan2 yg tengah terdesak cari kerja (tapi mesti competent la).
Besides, dari segi accounting, company yg banyak liabiliti akan kurang kene tax. That’s why we see bosses like Mr S have a lot of company’s assets. Tu semua ada kaitan dengan strategi untuk majukan company, which in the end, the benefits will reach to each personnel in that particular company as well.
hmmm…berjela-jela lagi saya boleh sambung tulis. The main point is, stop looking at things in a narrow perspective. Look at things in a bigger picture.
To bosses, banyak lagi contoh bosses kat company lain yg bagus2 instead of Mr S (Gordon Gekko). Our staff are not suckers.
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02 May 09 at 7:55 am #for me, i would kerja with a good boss…yes, mr s would be my choice.being an asshole boss…would not create a productive environment in the office…turnover rate probably would be really high..i prefer to work with mr s, because it shows that he is just as human as me..even though he is superior..
07 Aug 09 at 11:43 am #i prefer an asshole yet effective boss.. had experience with both type of bosses..awal2 or for those yang tak kenal the true self of boss like mr z, mungkin suka dia. me also, mula2 rase wah bagusnya bos ni..baik betul, jaga kebajikan all staff, tak pernah marah, puji kita melambung2, memang kire no 1 boss la. but when time pass by, when so many works can’t be finished on time,when i try to seek his opinion but his answer always “u buat la ape yg patut”, damn..then i realize i really hate this boss. not so long after that, he was transferred to other division..then come a very mr perfect/on time/piss off boss. mula2 kerja under him, mmg rase sangat benci, rasa tertekan, almost every day balik after isya’. but then, after a month i started to see the result. all tasks given were finished on time and above expectation..other division also noticed our changes. one thing that i always remember on what he said “we must proactive,jgn duduk dan tunggu shj”..walau pun selalu kene jerkah/selalu stay back late/setakat menitis air mata tu dah perkara biasa..but when our users are very happy/satisfied with our deliverables, it’s satu kepuasan yang tak dpat digambarkan dengan kata2…
06 Mar 11 at 2:39 pm #so..i vote for an effective asshole boss…
well why don’t be an effective good samaritan instead of an asshole
09 Mar 11 at 12:50 pm #