If the person in charge of making payroll has personal financial problems, work can be pretty scary.
You don't have to like your boss, but you do have to respect what they tell you to do at work. They're the ones who are accountable for the success of the organization, so if their instructions are ignored, the health of the company might suffer. Granted, some bosses are better able to handle power than others, and your ability to respect them may be due to a number of factors. But if a boss is otherwise competent, can you still respect them if they have major personal financial difficulties?
Respect in the Workplace, Dunder Mifflin Style
One of the best TV shows of all time was The Office. In it, the character of Michael Scott (played by the incomparable Steve Carell) suffered from many competency shortfalls in his role as Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. He constantly distracted his staff with email forwards, unnecessary meetings, and announcements in the middle of the working day. And, perhaps not too surprisingly, his character had major personal financial problems.
In the episode Money, Michael confesses his debt problems to Oscar Martinez (played by Oscar Nunez), an accountant at Dunder Mifflin. Oscar helps out by categorizing Michael's spending habits into groups, and presenting him with the result through a powerpoint presentation. Michael's spending includes things people need, things people don't need, and things people don't ever need: like multiple magic sets and pro bass fishing equipment.
Michael Scott got mixed reviews from his staff. In the episode Did I Stutter?, Stanley Hudson (played by Leslie David Baker) tells Scott he does not respect him. Hudson tells Michael: You are a person I do not respect. The things you say, your actions, your methods and style, everything you do, I would do it the opposite way. In the end, the two agree that while Stanley won't respect Michael personally, he will respect the normal chain of command present in any employment situation.
Later in the series, once Jim Halpert (played by John Krasinski) moves from the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin to the Stamford, Connecticut branch, Michael Scott's performance as manager is vindicated. While both he and Jim are at a conference, Jim confesses that his reasons for leaving Scranton were due to complications in his relationship with Pam Beasley (played by Jenna Fischer) and not due to problems with Michael as manager. You were a great boss, Jim tells Michael at a party Michael is hosting in his hotel room.
Some fictional characters can apparently find a way to respect a boss with personal financial problems, but what does that mean in the real world?
The Office was a blockbuster television show because it exaggerated life in an office. However, that exaggeration was based on situations people could relate to in their daily lives. Michael Scott was the culmination of every boss's bad habits, including an extreme debt problem. And although few bosses will likely rival Michael Scott, there is no question your boss could have personal financial issues.
Don’t panic
If your boss manages his or her money as poorly as Michael Scott, don't panic. Corporations are separate from individuals, and no matter how poorly your boss wastes his or her paycheck, the damage rarely goes past that threshold. Bosses who do attempt to cross that line take risks they do not comprehend. As an employer, a boss has responsibilities for the welfare of the staff of the company. Poor financial management will come back to bite them, and it might not stop with them simply being fired.
In one of the best business books of all time, Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind chronicled the downfall of Enron. Among the various nefarious and selfish characters in that saga was Andrew Fastow, the company's CFO. His financial mismanagement at Enron resulted in criminal prosecution and he subsequently spent 6 years in prison.
Public corporations report their financial health to shareholders every 3 months. Overseeing their conduct is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While neither are a guarantee of prudent financial behavior, both do attempt to bring transparency to an otherwise dark corner of business. Bosses who attempt to work around the constraint of accepted accounting practices may get away with it temporarily, but eventually they will be revealed and prosecuted.
Will I still Respect You In The Morning
This is really the big question: can you stand knowing the person you’re supposed to follow has a problem with basic personal accounting? If they say they need expense reports filled in by the last day of the month, how do you take them seriously? Obviously, in their own financial universe, the notion of tracking expenses has never occurred.
The key is to abstract the request made by your boss from their personal conduct. If you focus too literally on their behavior, you will find it difficult or impossible to respect anything they say. A boss who asks you to lift a heavy box would be difficult to respect if you evaluated them based on their own physical capability to lift heavy objects.
A good boss actually promotes this phenomenon of instructing an expert to complete complicated work. Its called hiring your weakness, and a good boss knows to do that. A boss with personal financial problems who asks you to complete financial duties at work is at least smart enough to realize they should not be bringing their bad financial behaviors to work. By delegating that work to you, both you and the company are in better hands.
Summary
In the final assessment, the truth is you have no way of controlling someone else’s finances, and that includes your boss. But by accepting work they delegate to you, you can help improve the health of your organization by ensuring that professionalism is maintained in all aspect of the operation, including those relating to finances.
Do you have a boss who struggles with their personal finances? Are you able to respect them? What techniques do you use to help prevent stress related to respect issues you have for a boss with personal financial problems?