Your Boss Knows
By Adam Radzik
Consultant to Professional Firms

When you come in late, when you leave early, when you take long lunches, your boss notices.

When you chat a lot with your peers, when you spend a lot of time on the Internet, when you make a lot of personal phone calls, your boss observes it.

When your work is sloppy, when there are a lot of typos in what you submit, when your work looks thrown together, even if your boss doesn’t say anything, he makes a mental note of it.

When you tend to miss deadlines, keep the members of your team waiting and hold up the project because everyone is waiting for you, word gets back to your boss, you can be sure.

When you don’t put in a lot of thought into what you are doing, when you miss important and obvious weaknesses in your work, when you act distracted, don’t think that your boss is unaware or oblivious as to what’s going on.

When you waste a lot of other people’s time, when you talk too much, when you spend a lot of time smiling and flirting with the young, new receptionist, your boss is watching you.

When your office is invariably messy, when you look as if you just rolled out of bed, when you often elect not to shave, everybody notices, including your boss.

When you act lackadaisical, when you don’t give your work a good effort, when you don’t stay late when your work requires it, your boss knows, boy, does your boss know.

When you consistently can’t locate where you put that file, when you frequently appear disorganized, when you embarrass the company because of your lack of preparation or attention, you can bet that your boss has heard about it.

When you offer lame excuses for coming late to business appointments, when you say you’re going to do something and you don’t do it, when you come to the meeting without the most important papers, your boss is concerned about your performance.

When you don’t seem to get along with this one or that one, when you frequently argue with your peers, when you often lose your temper, you can be sure your boss will note that in your annual evaluation.

When you demonstrate that you aren’t reliable, when coworkers no longer believe that you can be depended upon, when your business behavior becomes the subject of sarcasm and biting humor, you can be sure that your boss is wondering whether you should be around after Christmas.

When you take your job for granted, when you assume the company will always keep you because they need you, when you act as if you’re on vacation when you are at work, your boss will have two appointments the following week, to find your replacement.

Finally, when you think your boss won’t know, just remember that he was also once an employee and chances are he didn’t get promoted because he was an incompetent, blind fool.

Comedy Corner

A man flying in a hot air balloon realizes he is lost. He reduces his
altitude and spots a man in a field down below. He lowers the balloon
further and shouts, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The man below says, “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, about thirty feet above this field.”

“You must be an engineer,” says the balloonist.

“I am. How did you know?”

“Everything you told me is technically correct, but it’s of no use to anyone.”

The man below says, “You must be in management.”

“I am. But how did you know?”

“You don’t know where you are or where you’re going but you expect me to help you, without any compensation. You’re in the same position as you were before we met, but the difference is that now you have figured out that it is really me who is at fault for your situation and that I deserve your criticism.”