The tough economy had shown many people the ugly faces of their colleagues, especially those of their bosses. Last weekend, while idling with a few of my friends over a Starbucks latte, we got talking about Bosses who Pretend Gods.

Sure we all have seen the good & the bad, but what came out of that reminiscence was that there are people who believe that they had all the power to change other’s lives – and more so for the worse!

So why does some bosses behave like gods?

And this is no God in the better sense of the word! Especially in the context of work, when everyone, apart from the owner, is a paid employee? My mentor once said “An organization is a social institution. An institution with 2 rooms. The larger room has one or just a couple of people. They don’t have designations & they don’t care what designation they carry.

The other room, considerably smaller, is stuffed with people, each with a different designation, and each trying to foolishly pride himself with that. What they don’t know is that they will never be in the other room.”

My mentor is one of the richest industrialists from India & runs multi-billion dollar automobile business in Asia-Pacific! And it stuck to me for ever. And we see how true his analogy is every day in our life.

I leave the question open: So why does some bosses behave like gods on a borrowed scepter?

And what do you do when you have to work with one?