The Boss Is Away

So I am at day 2 of my normal work week and the boss is away. He was scheduled to be gone all week, who knew? Not those who work for him. By and large he is a nice guy. He is however a task master. He does not an empower those under him. Did I mention he is a nice guy? That said only a select few knew he was going to be gone, in fact they are with him. As such there are several of us sitting around waiting for the tasks from the task master.

Yes I work for the government because only in the government are task masters promoted to the level of my boss. Sure it happens in business but not to the degree of the government. Why is that you may ask? I have a theory is has to do with basic economics. The government does not have to make a profit, in fact is forbidden to do so. Business on the other hand can only go so long with a red bottom line before they are no longer.

The boss has never been comfortable with delegating and empowering the subordinates under him. I does not make a difference if you do great work or no work at all, the trust is not there. Furthermore the drive of new folks is quickly beaten down leaving the worker bees wasting time waiting for the next task. Business rewards innovation, drive, accomplishments. Government rewards obedience. Business rewards those things that increase the bottom line. Government hides those things so that they can ask for more money to burn.

So here I sit. Watching a beautiful day go by, I could be on the motorcycle, camping, fishing or dare I say actively engaged in “earning” my pay. But alas I am a government employee. I am to do as I am told, no more, no less. Here I sit waiting for the boss to tell me what to do next. No wonder we hate government employees. But take it from one who is.. Much of the problem is the leadership or lack there of.