Maturity and Wisdom
WHETHER YOU’RE A MAVERICK who shuns bureaucracy or a judicious type who avoids controversy, how well you get along with your superiors can make or break your success. While most people know that managing up is important, they don’t always do it, perhaps because they struggle with the hierarchical nature of the relationship, or they just don’t realize that it merits their attention. In “The Subordinate’s Predicaments,” Eric H. Neilsen and Jan Gypen explore the tension inherent in the employee-boss relationship. They take a psychological approach to reducing what they describe as the subordinate’s need for self-protection. Among the dilemmas that must be resolved are initiative versus dependence and differentiation versus identification. You may find yourself leaning one way or the other in given circumstances, but how well you maintain the…