I changed my view of the power of management the day I saw my boss preparing to meet his boss. My boss — a man who liked to keep his workers on their toes by combining exaggerated concern for their wellbeing with random acts of savage cruelty — was sweating slightly. He looked pale and licked his lips nervously. He was, in short, terrified.

It was riveting; the kind of moment that, had this been the tropical rather than the office jungle, David Attenborough would have waited hours to catch on camera. My boss had revealed his true colours and, unwittingly, one of the greatest secrets of office life: our superiors are more fearful than we are.

When you think about this, it’s not so surprising.

First, all but the dimmest realise that their hold over us is based not on personal magnetism but on the hierarchy of an office. Someone has promoted them to boss level, so they give instructions and we follow them. Were we to meet in the outside world, on equal terms, then who knows what might happen?

Secondly, they know that the price of being lifted up is a greater responsibility to perform. They have become more visible. Their heads are above the parapet. The company wants to know what it is getting for its money.

Thirdly, they are now in a contest with every other boss. If they are at the very top, there is a boss elsewhere who might look a better bet to the shareholders. If they’re close to the top, they are in a fight with every other boss to get there.

Finally, they have farther to fall. One day, all they have achieved — their company car and driver, their big office, their golf days and their smiling, resourceful PA — will be taken from them. They will be just another sacked boss, drained of power.

So next time you are on the wrong end of a blasting from your boss, look closely into the eyes... and see the fear.

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