Bosses shmosses
If you’ve ever worked a 9-5, which I’m pretty sure we all have at one point or another (or we still do and are dying to get out of it), you know what a boss is like. Annoying, demanding, hardly flexible, basically just…bossy, right? We can’t WAIT to get rid of that!
But wait a tick…what about all the positive things a boss does for us? We’re usually so wrapped up in our own thought about how he’s taking away our freedom, commanding too much of our time, not letting us do “what we wantâ€? that we forget about the extremely positive influences a “goodâ€? boss has on us.
Seth Godin posted about bosses on his blog recently, and here’s a list of positive influences we get from bosses:
Bosses organize your time for you.
Bosses decide what’s urgent.
Bosses give you cover when you work on something stupid (“she told me to!”)
Bosses pay you even when the client doesn’t honor the invoice.
Bosses can be sued.
Bosses create deadlines, and stick with them.
Bosses make sure you show up in the morning.
Bosses pay for the Postits.
Bosses give you someone to complain about.
Bosses carve up the work and give you just that piece you signed up to do.
Bosses give you a role model. (Sometimes one to work against, but that’s a different story).
He also writes…
The main thing a boss does, though, is give you the momentum you need to get through the stuff that takes perseverance. The main thing that ends the career of a Free Agent is the lack of a hand pushing on the back, someone handing out assignments and waiting for the deliverables. Who keeps you going when you don’t feel like doing it?
When you’re out on your own, you’ll have to do all of that for yourself. It’s a hell of a lot easier said than done too, and any true entrepreneur can attest to that. It’s not all peaches and cream when you’re in business for yourself. You’re exposed to monumental risk and uncertainty.
But isn’t that what sets us apart from the rest? The risk, uncertainty, and need for challenge is what we thrive on while most hide under a security blanket of 9-5 wage and benefits. Hey, this entrepreneur gig isn’t for everyone – but I love it.
