'I always tell the people who work for me the same thing: " My job is to hold the umbrella so the shit from above doesn't hit you. Your job is to keep me from having to use it.'

This quote comes from a Director of Sports Medicine at a large university who wrote a comment in response to a post on my other blog called  A Shitty View of the Pecking Order.  Here is the picture that is the centerpiece of that post:

I think that this boss's comment is brilliant because there is so much wisdom on so many levels.  First, it is really funny, especially when paired with the picture above.  Second, there is deep wisdom there about the relationship between a good boss and good followers -- these are mutually supportive relationships, not one way. Even the best boss can't do everything.  This boss is more than willing to go to bat for his people.   But the implication for him or any other boss is, if people keep creating conditions where he or she constantly has to protect them, say, from superiors that they piss-off because they do shoddy work or break too many rules or anything else-- a point comes where the difficult employee ends-up undermining the boss's reputation, the reputation of his or her team, and ultimately hurting everyone involved.