I have related the story previously of how a trusted subordinate mishandled a case and to protect her I took the responsibility with our boss.* The new state security officer (I am confused about what happened to the previous one, Vasya's former boyhood school teacher), in his first meeting with his subordinates toasts them by telling an, apparently Ukrainian, anecdote:
A subordinate looked his superior in the eyes and said, "Who are you, the boss?" "I hope you croak, boss!"
And then, the boss opened the window and jumped from the 24th floor.
Let's drink so that management defers to the opinions of their subordinates.
A good manager does not hand up those down from him. A good manager takes, sometimes forces, subordinates to hand him up from below.
*My subordinate interviewed for a job the equivalent of the one I had at the time. "Who would you emulate if we gave you this promotion?" they asked her. "Benjamin Harris," she replied (to grimaces). She is now a judge. :)
