Leadership and Bosses
Lead, Follow, or Get Off the Path
How Can Leaders Develop Their Buddha Nature?
Bodhisattvas become chiefs, captains, priests, governors, even presidents and prime ministers. For the good of the needy they are endless sources of gifts that give rise to the mind of awakening.
—Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra 8
THE BUDDHA LIVED servant leadership long before today’s business book writers and corporate consultants popularized the idea. Leadership metaphors, like management theories, come and go as fads; there’s always a program du jour and the temptation to manage by best seller. If you have worked in a large organization and attended a lot of training programs, perhaps you remember some of these: situational leadership, leader as coach, leader as warrior, leader as cheerleader, leader as visionary, leadership heart, leadership soul, Machiavellian leadership, leadership hardball, chainsaw leadership … the list is endless.
But who are the leaders we admire most? Who would we most like to follow? Moses, Muhammad, Gandhi, Jesus, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama … and the Buddha. We think of them because they embody the leadership model in our quote above: servant leadership—leadership in service of the poor, of the disenfranchised, of the hungry, homeless, and hopeless.
Leaders who serve other people are the true leaders, because their leadership goes beyond their organizations and makes a difference in the world. These leaders have given up their egos and executive trappings, and instead chosen the road of simplicity and service. What does the Dalai Lama call himself? “A simple monk.” Sure, he has great power and he uses it, but he does not forget that the power belongs to the office, while the feet of clay are his own.
How Can Organizations Identify and Select Good Leaders?
Gray hair doesn’t make of you an elder.
That’s just age descending on you, dumbly.
When gentle truth and mastery purify and
Awaken you, then you are an elder.
—Dhammapada 260–261
AGE DOES NOT necessarily confer wisdom. As we all know from firsthand experience, youth ends, but immaturity can endure forever!
Good leaders are not necessarily older than their followers, but they are wiser. Leadership is not about chronology; it is about character. The Buddha tells us that to be an elder, respected in the community, one must have traveled the path of discipline, self-reflection, rigorous honesty, and self-control. To be an elder is to be a living example of that path.
Not too many years ago, a Japanese corporate executive, interviewed by an American reporter, described his role as “being the soul of the corporation.” He saw himself as the living, breathing embodiment of the values and ethics that were the foundation of his organization. When his followers looked at him, they saw someone putting enlightenment to work.
Perhaps what employees and organizations are yearning for today is a leader who is a chief spiritual officer, not a chief executive officer.
How Does a Great Employer or Boss Embody and Demonstrate His or Her Buddha Nature?
A good employer ministers to her servants and employees in five ways: by assigning them work they can manage; by giving them food and money; by supporting them in sickness; by sharing special delicacies; and by granting them leave when appropriate.
—Digha Nikaya 31
THE BUDDHA KNEW that no matter what kind of organization you run, it is smart to be as good an employer as you can. When there’s plenty of labor, the best and the brightest will want to work for you. And when there’s a shortage of labor, you will still be able to choose the best and retain them.
Being a great employer is not some mysterious, complex thing; it’s about getting the basics right. The Buddha lists five:
1. Assign work that employees can manage. Make sure that job requirements are a good fit with employees’ skills and abilities; make sure they have appropriate education and training. Also build enough challenge into each job to maintain employees’ interest. This may be difficult to do with some jobs, but give it some thought and be resourceful. Things like cross-training, job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation, and special projects will help keep people challenged, engaged, and committed.
2. Give employees food and money. Larger employers provide a company cafeteria, and smaller ones have lunchrooms with refrigerators and microwaves. Productivity and health are directly related. You must pay employees well and care for them if you expect them to care for you and the work.
3. Support employees in sickness. Everyone gets sick once in a while; and when people are sick, they need special care. If you give them that care, they will gratefully return it many times over when they come back to work.
4. Share special delicacies. A little something extra every so often is a wonderful way to let people know you appreciate them and their good work; sharing the goodies, whether profits or in some other form, is highly reinforcing.
5. Grant employees leave when appropriate. People are not cogs in a machine and cannot be treated as such. Special circumstances require benevolence and flexibility in allowing time away from work, whether for maternity leave, family care, a sabbatical to refresh and recharge, or other personal needs.
What does it take to be a great boss or employer? The Buddha has laid out the basics. By all means, add to this list, but don’t miss the boat by missing the basics.
Why Do Some Bosses Surround Themselves with Yes-Men (or Yes-Women)?
A flatterer is an enemy pretending to be a friend in four phases: he approves of your bad choices; he disapproves of your good choices; he praises you whenever you’re around; then he blames you when you’re not.
—Digha Nikaya 31
WE FIND YES-MEN (and yes-women) everywhere, especially in organizations where decisions are made not so much on facts and figures as on personalities and politics. Insecure bosses will often reward such people. They let it be known that they don’t want anyone to disagree with them or question their decisions.
There may come a time when you are tempted to become a yes-person. Resist this temptation for at least two reasons. First, when you do this, you will not only lose your self-respect, but you’ll likely lose the respect of your peers (who see what you’re up to) and, ultimately, the person whose ass you bent over to kiss (even if they asked for it, they will not reward you for long). This is a good enough reason, though shortsighted.
The second reason is that even if you are willing to sacrifice your integrity this way, and your boss keeps eating it up, the strategy cannot be sustained. Without candid and accurate feedback from team members and employees, even a powerful boss loses perspective and makes poor choices. Projects fail. When you tie yourself to such a boss, you tie yourself to a sinking ship. Sure, you can blame your boss for these failures, but you’re still there, sinking along with him. Further, you’re sinking your whole organization, along with all the good it might be doing for all sentient beings. Now that is reason enough.
How Can You Be Buddha at Work If You Have a Tough, Demanding Boss?
See a critic as a treasure map;
Stay around and things always get better.
Let him teach and wean you from wrong action.
Good people learn to love him, others don’t.
—Dhammapada 76–77
TEACHERS WHO DEMAND the most of their students help their students to grow the most. It’s the same with bosses. Employees rise highest when they rise under bosses who set high standards and challenging goals for them. Employees with bosses who expect mediocre performance usually give it to them. Worse yet are lax and undemanding bosses; they’re doing you a real disservice by selling you short.
The Buddha knows that a worker with a tough boss is like an athlete with a tough coach—that worker, and that athlete, will work harder, stretch his or her capabilities, and reach new levels of achievement. Yes, it’s hard to remember this when a tough boss pushes you out of your comfort zone, but just as the Buddha says, stick with this boss, because he’s guiding you to treasure. (Remember, here we’re talking about a tough boss, not a terrible boss. That’s another topic; see below.)
Think of your boss’s criticisms and instructions as his expressions of love for you and concern for your future. (And even if your boss is just a tyrant who doesn’t love you, you can still be mindful at your job and see what there is to learn from such a boss. Hint: sometimes we learn best from those who demonstrate what not to do and how not to be.)
Ken Blanchard (a.k.a. “The One Minute Manager”) says, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” If your boss never tells you what you’re doing wrong, how can you improve? If you’re a good employee, you’ll learn to love it (or at least respect it, even if you don’t love it). If you’re not learning this, it’s time to rethink yourself, not your boss.
Do Successful Executives Always Have Big Egos?
A fool who knows he is foolish is wise in that;
A fool who thinks he’s wise fulfills the name.
—Dhammapada 63
JACK WELCH, CEO of General Electric for 20 years, used to say, “If you’re not confused, you don’t know what’s going on.” That’s such a superbly Buddhist observation. Those who pretend to be masters of the situation are fooling themselves. Better to admit your unknowing. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi used to say he didn’t know what he was doing, running an enormous Zen center. People thought he was being humble, but he was admitting the simple truth.
Wise people are humble people—they know they don’t know. People with big egos are foolish people—they don’t know they don’t know. They are ignorant of their own ignorance; they are fools who think themselves wise. Thus, they are doubly foolish.
Better to be humble, like Jack Welch. If he was confused, he was acknowledging humility. He was always a beginner.
The Buddha reminds us to be conscious of our own foolishness. Own and acknowledge the fact that there is much you don’t know. The place of unknowing is not a bad place to be in—it means you are teachable and open to learning. You can’t be teachable and maintain a big ego at the same time. Suzuki Roshi wrote a lovely book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, teaching us how to maintain the freshness of beginners. Both he and Jack Welch also retained the humbleness of beginners. Good enough for them, good enough for you.
What Happens When Leaders Get into Power Struggles?
He brings together the divided, he encourages friends.
He is a peacemaker, loving peace, passionate for peace,
speaking words that bring peace.
—Anguttara Nikaya 10.176
POWER STRUGGLES ARISE out of the illusion of separateness that we live in. We need a healthy ego to survive, but when the ego forgets its own contingent nature, it moves us to struggle for power and pleasure as if these were the only important things. Anyone engaged in a power struggle has lost his mind—his Buddha mind.
A workplace is not, fundamentally, a place of separateness. When rival leaders act as if it is, the best you can do is stay out of the way. You don’t want to become a casualty of their turf tussle. Do your work well; do not take sides; don’t gossip or speculate with coworkers; keep out of the line of fire as the warring parties duke it out. You may be enlisted by one or both sides in the war. Be a conscientious objector. If people are really listening, you might mention that not only is struggle for power unsustainable, but domination is unsustainable as well. Tell them that since an organization functions fully only in peace, you’ll be preserving your peace with both sides. But tell them just once. They may actually hear you later; for now, as always, you have your own challenges.
How Can You Maintain Your Peace of Mind If You Work for a Terrible Boss?
Treating others the way he’s treating me,
He’ll be destroyed and then I shall be free.
—Jataka 278
WE HEAR ONE reassuring refrain again and again as we study the Buddha’s teachings: what goes around comes around. Even a bad boss will get his comeuppance. We never know in advance what the karmic punishment will look like or when it will come, but we can rest assured that it will come. Perhaps he’ll mess with the wrong employee and end up being sued. Perhaps his deeds will come to the attention of his own bosses, and they’ll fire him. Perhaps his employees will unite against him and find subtle ways of turning the tables. But mainly, he will always pay the highest price: he will surround himself with dukkha.
The important thing here is to remember that it is not your job to even the score. You are not to take on the role of judge and jury with your boss, even if he’s bad enough to make you want to. You are not the hammer of karma. Stay out of your boss’s and take care of your own. Do a good job at your work; be compassionate and cooperative with coworkers; try to stay out of harm’s way and minimize any contact you have to have with your boss; be respectful when you do have to deal with him. This is exactly what the Buddha knows and does. He doesn’t soil himself with retribution; he doesn’t have to. In the worst case, quit working for your terrible boss. What does that pain gain you?
This is a serious question, one with both external and internal answers. Externally, others have trouble with him; if you can work with him, you are rare and people will notice. Internally, if you really want to be a good student of the Buddha and are willing to take on a difficult learning assignment, we have a radical suggestion: love your terrible boss. He’s a nasty teacher, but he can teach you lessons that your friends never can.
Having a terrible boss is one of those situations we find ourselves in more often than we’d like, but there is often a powerful spiritual lesson available in these awful situations. Look for what there is to learn; see what qualities you can cultivate in yourself while you’re in this situation. Someday you may look back and realize that you became stronger and more resilient, patient, kind, and compassionate as a result of working for a jerk.