1.
Hotspots of the Boss!
One of the Japanese clients say XYZ San and later he became a colleague, was sharing the tip with me,
how to deal with the boss. His boss was very sharp, dedicated, tough and having very high expectations
from everyone around. As per XYZ san it is important to know the hot spots of the boss,(should not be
misunderstood, Just Kidding) meaning which events would make boss angry? He seems to have analyzed
his boss thoroughly. I observed his behavior minutely and concluded that he was very nicely aligned to
the expectations of his boss. That’s the reason his output used to be fully aligned, huge, timely and
matching to the expectations. During conflicting or confusing situation there used to be a good dialogue
between both and used to decide jointly. Most of the time it was opinion of his boss which used to get
concluded. Due to higher expectations of his boss, XYZ San used to do tremendous hard work, at the same
time used to learn so much, held larger role & responsibilities winning the trust of his boss. He was offered
very important responsibilities at young age, including communication with client CXO team. I can surely
say, this cycle seems to be a common phenomenon across.
I introspected myself. Recently I became a bit sarcastic and holding slight negativity in-spite of reading
content of positivity and watching videos to be peaceful, positive, energetic however these were not
impacting fruitfully to the extend required and all the while. Non-efficient systems around also adds to
slight frustration. I have kept a statue of Buddha on my office table, which reminds me to be keeping ease
and relax. I try achieving 9,9 HR metrics of relationship and productivity. Why am I not 100% successful,
which I want to be? I derived following reasons while observing the events when I was upset or angry.
# Generic Events making me upset/angry Remedies
1 If person around does not grasp what I am
talking or expecting (his/her response is
completely different track)
1. All fingers are not the same so the individuals,
have patience to explain once again, seek having
understood the say.
2 Lack of ownership and responsibilities,
clearly demonstrating non-efficiency
behavior, delay of actions, 2nd
or 3rd
reminder for the pending actions. Mis-
alignment on expectation on speed and
timely completion
1. Conveying or asking comfortable or required time
for closure of action
2. Using tools like outlook calendar for tracking
3. Creating & sharing data points if observations are
repeated.
4. Consider resource capacity and situation
3 Interest of organization is compromised,
guidance or instruction is not executed / not
agreed (its ok not to agree, but it is expected
either to convince or get convinced). (In fact
it is appreciable if someone owns
independent views & subsequent actions).
When someone remains adamant, I tend to
share the likely actions against individual,
focus shifts to person than the action!
1. To remain polite, try to understand.
2. Explain why suggested actions are required,
discuss alternatives & pros and cons, try to
convince, and get convinced.
3. Fix the ownership, transfer the responsibility.
4. Do not consider the extreme actions on dis-
agreement unless its impossible to work (this
style is unprofessional and not good)
5. Do not get disturbed. Leaders don’t!
6. Views should be flexible, not rigid
7. To be democratic truly
8. Discuss task/ideas, not the person
4 Subordinates (or even seniors) playing
politics
I don’t play politics, but can smell it quickly. I learnt
to convey my reading in form of well-articulated
statements, whet I feel, to check if it is true, what is

2.
the necessity, understand objective and the root
cause and guide how to avoid/stop it!
5 If someone does not deliver as expected at
operational ground level, but just act as a
consultant!
We have many consultants who keep
sharing the suggestions, while no one needs
those! People are always wanting to share
their suggestions, including to those who
have done the wonders!
Appreciate the suggestions! Do not get irritated.
Effective communication is the way and the key!
Sharing the expectations clearly is very important.
Gaps and their impact to be brought to the notice of
an individual!
Few common tips for improving behavior:
• A tip is emerging, to treat subordinate as a boss! Its difficult to buy this idea, boss has superior
intelligence, much better sense, ownership, logical thinking, mature way of dealing and actions.
• To respect everyone and maintain dignity of professionalism, and relationship.
• Try not to stamp individual in comparison of assessment of self-personality.
• Be convinced that shouting or irritating does help, one can be polite while being tough or
affirmative.
• To schedule a dialogue, to ask 2-4 well articulated relevant questions which would encourage an
actor to think and understand the views and make decisive actions. To learn to share the thought
process, explain or seek views on what, why, who, when, how to jointly decide.
• Try to convert an action to achieve a common objective.
• Its all about guiding, mentoring, and making decisions for senior position!
Another tip is, to keep chill. I personally do not buy it! I think it means dilute the ownership and
responsibilities, accommodate delay or no actions!
I recently read a nice tweet of Harsh Goenka, Chairman RPG. I liked it the most. Good to absorb and follow
• Knowledge decides what to Say
• Skill decides how to Say
• Judgement decides how much to Say
• Wisdom decides whether to Say!
I posted it on LinkedIn and other SNS. Someone commented on LinkedIn that Observation decides to
whom to say! Its important, to whom to mentor or guide or say!
I personally lack a skill to decide how to say, need to learn to articulate. I analyzed further; Root cause is
not having the patience. My own extraordinary speed on execution creates the similar expectations.
It’s observed that my strengths and expecting same from everyone is the root cause of such behavior.
The best practice is to follow the leaders, achievers, and role models. Observe how they manage to keep
cool, and still maintain 9,9 position on HR graph. Just practice and follow to whom you respect! In true
sense, and quickly. I did ask a question to CEO, what makes him & CXO so cool while observing so many
in-efficiencies and challenges, he smiled and answered, its so many efficiencies around which makes him
very positive and keep going!
What a positive attitude! So the best is to keep observing, learning, adopting and practicing!