Do you think you are smarter and / or more competent than your boss?

[Papa Deuce]

At what I do for a living, my boss surely knows far more than I do.

But when it comes to just about everything else in life that I know about him, I feel like I am leaps and bounds smarter than he is. I would almost say that almost all the employees in my department are smarter than he is.

 

[Camicar]

Current boss: No. He's amazing.

Last two bosses: Well, given that both of them assigned me significant chunks of their work because, "You know more and can do better than I can..." Yeah, I guess I think I was smarter/more competent than they are. Although maybe not. Hey, they got paid 4x what I did and got to shove their work off onto me -- sounds like they were the smart ones.

 

[dalt01]

i feel most of us are promoted till we reach the level of our incompetence. that is why the BOSS is usually not as good as some of his people. the reason for promotion by the way is not talent it is networking.

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

No, but my memos/letters to insurance agents (she's an underwriter) didn't contain the grammar errors her memos did. I quit because of her.

 

[GeorgiaPeach8]

Sadly, as a public school teacher--Yes! I'm on my 7 principal in 16 years. One was outstanding and the other 6 were vary degrees of mediocre. Generally, the way the school system is structured, it financially rewards people for leaving the classroom. This sets up a nasty situation where teachers who couldn't hack it in the classroom become principals. Sorry--if any administrators are reading--I'm not anti-administration but skeptical. We have a new assistant principal that is so good she blows me away!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Yes, I think I am smarter. I certainly use better grammar, common sense, and people skills. I don't know if I'm more competent. Our positions are completely different.

Now, it's different with my immediate supervisor. She and I may be in the same general range of IQ, but she is much more competent than I. She has more education in the field.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Maybe?

My boss is 60, I'm 30. Does he beat the snot out of me in anything that has to do with our field of work? Yes. I never (okay, very very rarely) question his assertions. And he is definitely smart. It takes a lot before I'll admit to someone being smarter than me, and he certainly makes me feel stupid on a regular basis. There are many times when he remembers work related things I do not, and I have a great respect for him as an expert in my profession.

That being said, the man has no "social" intelligence. None whatsoever. He is among the least pleasant people I have ever had to deal with. His wife is a saint. I recently had a chance to talk to some of his kids (who are not much younger than me) and they are surprisingly sane. I have heard him berate them over the phone the same way he talks to me and thought, "Dear Lord, please let me never treat my spouse and children like my work subordinates." The man does not take vacations. Oh sure, he goes away....and spends the entire time in the back of his van working on his computer and talking to us back at the office on his cell phone. He does golf, but he sees golf as a useful work tool more than anything. Basically, his lives his job and that is all he knows.

Smart isn't everything.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Yes and yes.

 

[Free4Life11]

Yes! But as long as she keeps approving my overtime no questions asked, I couldn't care less! She loves me and I love her right back!

 

[GeorgeG]

I've been retired for 4 years, but for the last 5-10 years before I retired the answer would be yes and yes, specific to my job and function. Education-wise, they usually had an edge on me, but experience was a big factor in my job and that they did not have. There were only a handful of us in the company who were capable of doing the job competently. I was the most senior and most experienced. When I was moving up, my bosses were usually also experienced in the same job, but then the company started moving younger, although better educated, people into management roles. They were in over their heads. I still get calls and e-mails from the guy who took over the department picking my brain. Recently, a friend who retired after me was called back as a contractor to help oversee the operation because young whiz-kids were making too many mistakes and two of them had to be re-assigned before they got someone killed. If I was stilll in the area I'd be there, too.

Granted, the young people today are smart, if not brilliant, but years of experience counts for a lot more than it's given credit for. Unfortunately, most of these young people will not get that experience because they do not stay in the job long enough to really learn how to apply their education. I have recommended to my successor that he pick a few the best candidates and do whatever it takes to retain them in the job over at least ten years (that job requires a good five years to become really competent and they are currently being rotated out after about two).

 

[DisneyBlonde]

No, he was smart and competent at his job. But he was a jerk and a little nazi.

 

[Pomlover2586]

Nope.....not smarter.....equal maybe. My Boss is awesome.....love her to death both as a boss and a friend!

 

[barkley]

i'm retired but back then.....smarter? in some ways. more competant? definatly at doing MY job, and certainly in several aspects of his job.

he was a "manager" and the only staff he directly supervised were in a variety of supervisory classifications. unfortunatly he was'nt one who liked to give out what he perceived as "bad news", and his idea of "bad news" was anything that was'nt a positive affirmation. that meant that those of us who directly supervised staff and were responsible for reviewing their work and ensuring it was done correctly were being constantly directed to just "fix" errors and never determine why the error occured with a particular worker or prevent the error from happening again. this caused huge problems for those of us who were expected as a part of our job to look at an error, determine if it was done by a particular worker because they could'nt do the task correctly vs. would'nt do it correctly. the could'nts we could have fairly easily addressed-provide the correct information, training or tools. the would'nt's needed personnel action.

he saw himself in a bubble-just his division. he did'nt realize the ripple effect of when those workers moved to other divisions and having never been told they were making errors continued to do causing havoc for their new supervisors and managers, disadvantaging the public, overpaying out taxpayer dollars. he also did'nt see the "generational effect" within his own division-how the uncorrected workers were viewed as the "experienced, seasoned staff" to the new hires who by nature of the profession had to rely on them to gain their knowledge of how to do the job-they were "taught" by the uncorrected workers who unknowingly taught them wrong

what petrifies me is the change in hiring procedures of supervisors and program analysts around the time of my retirement. previously a panel of true experts in the field would conduct interviews and a HUGE factor in scoring was based on an applicant demonstrating in front of that panel their program, procedural practical application of the work they would be responsible for administering and reviewing. that was a safety mechanism to ensure that at least at 2 levels there were people that absolutly knew how to do things correctly. around the time i retired that expert portion was eliminated and no knowledge or skill testing was administered. i have former co-workers who were the top notch experts in their programs who ended up retiring out because again-they were never told they made an error, and in reality they did'nt BUT the newer supervisors are being told not to tell them, they "fix" the cases on their own (incorrectly) resulting in tens upon tens of thousands of dollars in misspent public funds, and/or-incorrect denial of life sustaining public assistance and medical benefits to at risk children

 

[Metsfan520]

No and no. He's way smarter than I am. and way nicer.

 

[meandmytwogirls]

My boss is much more competent because he helped implement our current system and has working in it for 20+ years. I'm on year 2. In our organization it's obvious that in other depts. promotions are based on personal relationships and not talent or competency by any means. I spend half my day fixing their messes and explaining to them how to do their jobs (VP Level Individuals)!!

 

[Katieinwonderland]

Yes and yes. A loaf of bread could do a better job than he does.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I hope none of you are posting from work where your bosses might see what you wrote I work from home so I can be honest without that worry. Besides, I would say that I'm probably smarter but she's more competent.