Being a project person,
I tend to have multiple bosses.
I have the boss I directly report to
(often Finance)
and then the bosses assigning me projects
(sales, marketing, operations, the CEO).
Whenever layoffs are discussed,
my main boss has to discuss and get agreement
with all the other bosses
about whether my position stays or is eliminated.
That complexity saved my butt many times.
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert,
talks about Boss Diversity in Fortune.
“The best plan now is
to have as many bosses as possible.
I call it boss diversity.
If you work for a company and
you have one boss and
that boss doesn’t like you or
wants to get rid of you,
you’re in trouble.
But if you work for yourself,
you have lots of bosses,
who are your customers,
and if a few of them decide
they don’t like you,
that’s okay.
You can get new ones.
Boss diversity is the one kind
companies don’t talk to you about,
but it can save your career.”