“But what can be done about our bosses?”
| Pages | 32-37 |
| Published date | 01 May 1996 |
| Date | 01 May 1996 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129610112789 |
| Author | Maurice B. Line |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Introduction
I have conducted seminars on management in
various parts of the world, mainly for librari-
ans and mainly for staff just below the level of
boss. The management of people – so-called
human resource management, a term which
seems to put it at the same level as stock
management – always plays a large part in
these events, and always arouses greater
interest than anything else. The need to moti-
vate and involve staff is prominent; and during
discussion inevitably demotivation and exclu-
sion come up. At the end of these sessions,
someone nearly always says in one way or
another: “We have understood all you have
said, and agree wholeheartedly. But what can
be done about our bosses?”
I reply that there is a lot that staff at all
levels can do to help themselves, and I some-
times add that they may occasionally, and
unconsciously, use the boss’s supposed oppo-
sition as an excuse for inertia. But I do not
always feel very convinced by this myself. I
know that there are limits to what they can do
without the boss’s support, and sympathize
with their frustration.
These opening paragraphs may evoke the
image of the boss as a sort of ogre, a mini-
Robert Maxwell, who bullies his (or perhaps
her – ogresses are no better than ogres) staff
mercilessly, dominates the whole system,
exercises control over everything everyone
does and rules the place like a concentration
camp. There may indeed be a few such people
left, but they are, fortunately, a dying species.
The problem of the boss is much wider than
that. The fact is that bosses rarely realize how
much power they have, whether they like it or
not, even if they deliberately try not to exer-
cise it. In fact, they have very little idea what
effect they are having on their staff or the
library as a whole. They tend to live in an
unreal world as far as their own organizations
are concerned. In directing their attention
and efforts largely towards the parent bodies,
they neglect the organizations they are in
charge of.
I say this as one who was a boss – of three
libraries – over a period of 20 years. I hope I
was not a bad boss, but my experiences as a
consultant in the last seven years have opened
my eyes, and there are a number of things I
would do differently now. Why do even the
best bosses often fall so short of excellence in
32
Library Management
Volume 17 · Number 3 · 1996 · pp. 32–37
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0143-5124
“But what can be done
about our bosses?”
Maurice B. Line
The author
Maurice B. Line,having retired as Director General of
Science, Technology and Industry in the British Library in
1988, is an independent consultant specializing in the
management of change.
Abstract
Bosses, who have far more power and influence over their
staff than they realize, often fall far short of what is
needed or desired. Motivations to become bosses are not
always good, and appointing committees are sometimes
at fault. Bosses tend to be insecure, isolated and insulated
from the views of their staff, and can dominate without
realizing it. Types of boss can be represented by carica-
tures, which are often illuminating. Staff readily identify
the qualities that are ideally needed, but understand that
they are not often attainable. There are few easy solutions
to an inadequate boss, except to remove him or her; but,
with an acceptance of their non-perfection and a real
desire to listen and learn, bosses can gradually change.
There are signs that the situation is gradually improving.
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