"Left" turns

I remember reading this article that one of top reasons why people leave organisations is because they don't get along with their managers. Of course, this is a sweeping generalisation and masks a variety of complex factors underneath, but there is a large strain of truth in this.

A major factor comes out of this important question: Is your superior willing to go bat for you, sometimes even on a sticky wicket, given legitimate situations where you need his support? Most times, a person responsible for leading people has to fulfil two functions: to carry his team with him and to be responsible to his own superiors in order to achieve larger goals. Ideally, you want to be able to do both properly. But on many occasions, it's a trade-off, mostly because of perceptions of slant towards either end and due to genuine conflicts.

So do you want to have your troops swear by your fidelity to them, or do you want to be "recognised" by the generals as a tough go-getter who can even trample on toes to get things done?

As time goes by, different people end up having different experiences. The ones who get a raw deal from either side end up looking out for themselves wherever they go, probably spelling the word (as the cliche would suggest) as "tiim". For it's tough to find a team that really gels together.