Going to a job takes a lot of guts and determination.  Oh, I know it doesn't seem like it when you do it every day.   But if you've ever had the chance to take a few months off or to work for yourself, and then go back, you know that working for someone else is hard.

Not hard in the sense that the work is hard.  Hard in the sense that when you work for someone else you have to make a few sacrifices that diminish you in small ways.  One way might be the conversation you have with an associate who is on the wrong side of an argument with the company.  Even though you might agree with her you can't say that because the boss has made a decision counter to your feelings.  Saying that you wish the decision had been different makes you powerless in the future and makes the boss look bad in the present.  Taking a stand contrary to your own beliefs contributes to a certain kind of pain that accumulates over time and becomes a bad back or a dull headache that won't go away.  That's one reason why the alarm clock is a gut check.  Can you do it again today?

In an age when entreprenaurs get all the credit for taking chances and being pioneers, it's time to recognize that working for someone else is courageous and important in its own way.  One reason it's courageous is because you know that every single day there is someone at work that has power over you.  Sure, we act bravely in the face of this - sometimes even defying the wishes of the boss or the organization for which we toil.  One doesn't really make a career of this, though, because one's career would quickly be in jeopardy. 

A friend of mine once said of someone that he might be in the running for a job that had just come open because he had done a good job of "Yes manning" the boss.  Doesn't that conjure up a picture of a subordinate laughing at the big man's joke despite having heard it six times?  Even though my friend just made up an expression don't we all immediately know what it means?  And, even though the person in question might be an extraordinary executive, don't we somehow think slightly less of him despite having never met him?  That's too bad because it's not really fair.  The power that is lourded over even the very best excecutives causes compromises in character.  They are small.  They are slight.  But, over time they become a burden.

Another friend of mine once said that when we get mad at our boss we should remember that everyone has a boss.  I didn't know what that meant for a long time but now it's obvious that there may have been times when my boss had to rule against me because of the opinion of his own boss.  While I wish he could have stood up during those times and demanded that the company do the right thing, since none of us does that every time, compassion calls for me to be empathetic and understanding.  As it does each of us.

All of this made me think:  When you go to work for someone else every day who is that someone that you want to work for?  

    - One that stands up for what is right.  
    - One who takes responsibility for his own decisions and the decisions made for him that he can't tell you about.  
    - One who obviously cares about the people that work for him.  Not because they are the lifeblood of the organization but because they are fellow humans toiling alongside of him.
    - One who deals with you honestly and in a straightforward way.
    - One who respects your talents and wants you to succeed.
    - One who helps you achieve your professional goals.

Unfortunately, even good bosses that possess the traits I've just described end up leaving organizations.  Maybe it's because the burden of working for someone else has become too much.  Maybe it's because the fear of losing oneself to an organization gets a little scary.  Maybe, it's just time to do something else.

Not everyone who admires the boss and thought of the organization as him will be able to leave when he leaves.  In fact, probably no one can do that even though some may think that walking out that door when an admired boss walks out that door would be the ultimate tribute.

The thing is, a boss with all the right traits probably doesn't think that the ultimate tribute to him is to walk out the door.  He probably thinks it is to walk in the door on the day after he fails to do so.  After all, working for someone takes guts and determination and no one would appreciate that more than the boss they call the company man.