> From: vshafer@AZStarNet.com (Virginia I. Shafer)
<<< some deletions here >>>
>
> Applause, applause, applause! I hear BOSS and I immediately think, "Yes,
> master, whatever you desire..." It's funny. I just looked the word up in
> the dictionary* because of my overwhelming mental image of the ante-bellum
> (pre-US civil war) South. "A person who employs or superintends others;"
> hmm, "superintends...to oversee and direct." "_U.S._ a politician who
> controls his party organization;" hmm, "controls..." "_Informal_a person
> who exercises authority, dominates, etc.;" ahh, authority--the same thing
> given when one is empowered.
What's in a name? A whole lot! Boss? Even more than a whole
lot! There are many assumptions (things that we don't normally question)
associated with names: professors, students, administrators, bosses, men,
women, black, ... Those who are not too sure about where I come from, who
are helped by my affirmation that I come from many different places,
attribute "my uniqueness" to my own uniqueness. Some who learned that I
come from South America attribute it to my hispanic background. And they
say so even if they know what being hispanic really means, or doesn't
mean. Names have a lot of "meanings" for people. So, just the fact that
they can attach a label (name) to me, "explains" a lot of things about me
and the things I do!
<<< some interesting stuff deleted here >>>
> That's when I had to stop. I can no longer think of boss as a slave
> master. I can only think of some protuberance on the body, like a
> boil--something of a flaw that should be lanced, smoothed out, removed.
>
> I use the word boss when I mean "task master," "slave driver," "order
> barker," hands-on-the-reins control freak. Otherwise, manager,
> supervisor, leader--these names work well for all others.
I agree with you here. There is a big difference between when
someone says "I'm the boss here!!!", and when others say "She is our
leader" of our group! The things that "subordinates" (I don't like to use
this term either, but it is the one that goes well with "boss" - in my own
mind), about their bosses are not generally very kind. Whenever an
individual acts as a "boss" there is more resentment and bad feelings than
when a person acts as a leader (coach, facilitator, etc).
-- Ivan,
--*************************************************************** R. IVAN BLANCO, Ph.D. Voice 305 899-3515 Assoc. Prof. & Director Fax 305 892-6412 International Business Programs Andreas School of Business _________E-Mail Addresses________ Barry University Bitnet: Blanco%bu4090@Barryu Miami Shores, FL 33161-6695 Internet: Blanco@bu4090.barry.edu <<<<< ---------------- >>>>> "Si un hombre fuera necesario para sostener el Estado, este Estado no deberia existir." "If one man were necessary to sustain a Nation, this Nation should not exist." Simon Bolivar ===============================================================
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