Boss Clamp on Shoulder Is Warning

-

That clamp on the shoulder is the boss reminding you who's the boss, especially 
during a discussion, or after he has thrown you under the bus. Photo Credit: online pic.

Avoid touching people you work with, and definitely not women. You don’t know how it will be received and perceived. You don’t want to be accused of sexual harassment. If possible, there must be a third person in a room, when a man and a woman have meetings. Better still, they must be conducted in open spaces.

No touching. You must also learn how to anticipate being touched and move away. Isn’t that extreme? We all want to be seen as friendly, promotion material. Talking about promotion. That’s why you must avoid being clamped on the shoulder by the boss. You were not promoted despite your long hours and innovation that generated millions of dollars. They have moved you from your office to prepare it for the new guy.

The boss is telling you something when he clamps your shoulder. It’s not a friendly gesture. It is a rubber stamp. The company made the right decision to hire somebody else. The boss might even predict you’ll like him. Translate that into he’s African American or he was born in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nigeria or Morocco. That clamp on your shoulder is to incinerate any thought of racism from your brain. Company owners discuss these things when they meet in parking lots of private schools, during kids’ drop-off and pick-up.

Don’t exaggerate. Mr. Stringent-Williams is a friendly boss. No. He’s not, because you cannot clamp his back, to return the friendliness favor. When the new manager arrives, be on the alert. Watch  his hands. You don’t want him to clamp you on the shoulder, as a demonstration of ‘We boys’ or ‘Whats’up?’ He's there to solve a problem. You.

The hand shake is all you need at work and that’s even debatable, because of COVID-19. The rule of thumb is no hugs, no slaps on shoulders and definitely the boss must not use the clamp on people who report to him or her.


Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Einstein Passengers

-
Image
Being a passenger is very stressful.   You must listen to the owner of the car, nod and grumble yes to everything he says because you don’t want to piss him off. Two things can happen if you disagree with the driver: he can lose concentration and you all end up in a mash-up accident or stop the car and ask you to get out.   That is the driver’s prerogative.   You must listen to me if you are a passenger in my car.   Let’s flip the script for a minute and sympathise with the driver if she has a passenger who is more intelligent than Albert Einstein. He talks non-stop.   It is all about himself, how right he is, how good he is, how stupid his boss is. Einstein is also a driving instructor.   “Careful.   Look at that guy.   Is he crazy or something? ” says Einstein. Einstein is the unofficial pilot.   He presses imaginary brakes in the passenger seat when the driver stops abruptly for a guy who is texting on his bicycle. A certain Einstein took it to another level.   S
Read more